University  of  California  •  Berkelev 


6x¥ 


'*   ."*». 


THE 


LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM, 


OR, 


THE  HUGUENOTS  IN  FLORIDA. 


A   SERIES    OF   SKETCHES,   PICTURESQUE  AND   HISTORICAL,  OP    THE 
COLONIES    OF  COLIGNI,    IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 


1562—1570. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "THE  YEMASSEE,"  LIFE  OF  MARION/ 
"LIFE  OF  BAYARD"  ETC. 

SECOND    EDITION. 

NEW  YORK: 
BAKER    AND    S  C  B,  I  B  N  E  R , 

145    NASSAU    STREET   AND    36    PARK   ROW. 

1850. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

W.  GILMORE  SIMMS-,  ESQ., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  State*  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


* 


C.    W.    BENEDICT, 

Stereotype  r, 

•JOi  William  at. 


f 

.& 


EPISTLE  DEDICATORY, 


TO  THE 

HON.   JAMES  H.   HAMMOND, 

OF 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


MY  DEAR  HAMMOND: 

I  VERY  well  know  the  deep  interest  which  you  take  in  all 
researches  which  aim  to  develope  the  early  history  of  our  State 
and  country,  and  sympathize  with  you  very  sincerely  in  that  local 
feeling  which  delights  to  trace,  on  your  own  grounds,  and  in  your 
own  neighborhood,  the  doubtful  progresses  of  French  and 
Spaniard,  in  their  wild  passion  for  adventure  or  eager  appetite  for 
gold.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  clues  are  in  your  hands  which 
shall  hereafter  conduct  you  along  a  portion  of  the  route  pursued 
by  that  famous  cavalier,  Hernando  de  Soto ;  and  I  am  almost 
satisfied  that  the  region  of  Silver  Bluff  was  that  distinguished  in 
the  adventures  of  the  Spanish  Adelantado,  by  the  presence  of  that 
dusky  but  lovely  princess  of  Cofachiqui,  who  welcomed  him  with 
go  much  favor  and  whom  he  treated  with  an  ingratitude  as 
unhandsome  as  unknightly.  But  I  must  not  dwell  on  a  subject 
so  seductive ;  particularly,  as  I  entertain  the  hope,  in  some  future 


IV  EPISTLE    DEDICATORY. 

labor,  to  weave  her  legend  into  an  appropriate,  and  I  trust  not 
unworthy  history.  For  the  present,  inscribing  these  pages  to  you, 
as  a  memorial  of  a  long  and  grateful  intimacy,  and  of  inquiries 
and  conjectures,  musings  and  meditations,  enjoyed  together,  which, 
it  is  my  hope,  have  resulted  no  less  profitably  to  you  than  to 
myself,  I  propose  briefly  to  give  you  the  plan  of  the  volume  in 
your  hands. 

The  design  of  the  narrative  which  follows,  contemplates,  in 
nearly  equal  degree,  the  picturesque  and  the  historical.  It 
belongs  to  a  class  of  writings  with  which  the  world  has  been  long 
since  made  familiar,  through  a  collection  of  the  greatest  interest, 
the  body  of  which  continues  to  expand,  and  which  has  been 
entitled  the  "  Romance  of  History."  This  name  will  justly  apply 
to  the  present  sketches,  yet  must  not  be  construed  to  signify  any 
large  or  important  departure,  in  the  narrative,  from  the  absolute 
records  of  the  Past.  The  romance  here  is  not  suffered  to  super- 
sede the  history.  On  the  contrary,  the  design  of  the  writer  has 
been  simply  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  record.  Where  the 
author,  in  this  species  of  writing,  has  employed  history,  usually, 
as  a  mere  loop,  upon  which  to  hang  his  lively  fancies  and  auda- 
cious inventions,  embodying  in  his  narrative  as  small  a  portion  of 
the  chronicle  as  possible,  I  have  been  content  to  reverse  the 
process,  making  the  fiction  simply  tributary,  and  always  subor- 
dinate to  the  fact.  I  have  been  studious  to  preserve  all  the  vital 
details  of  the  event,  as  embodied  in  the  record,  and  have  only 
ventured  my  own  "  graftings"  upon  it  in  those  portions  of  the 
history  which  exhibited  a  certain  baldness  in  their  details,  and 
seemed  to  demand  the  helping  agency  of  art.  In  thus  interweav- 
ing the  history  with  the  fiction,  I  have  been  solicitous  always  of 
those  proprieties  and  of  that  vraisembla7ice9  in  the  introduction  of 


EPISTLE   DEDICATORY.  Y 

new  details,  which  are  essential  to  the  chief  characteristics  of 
the  history ;  seeking  equally  to  preserve  the  general  integrity 
of  the  record  from  which  I  draw  my  materials,  and  of  that  art 
which  aims  to  present  them  in  a  costume  the  most  picturesque. 
My  labor  has  been  not  to  make,  but  to  perfect,  a  history ;  not  to 
invent  facts,  but  to  trace  them  out  to  seemingly  inevitable 
results ; — to  take  the  premise  and  work  out  the  problem ; — recog- 
nize the  meagre  record  which  affords  simply  a  general  outline ; 
and  endeavor,  by  a  severe  induction,  to  supply  its  details  and  pro- 
cesses. I  have  been  at  no  such  pains  to  disguise  the  chronicle, 
as  will  prevent  the  reader  from  separating, — should  he  desire 
to  do  so, — the  certain  from  the  conjectural ;  and  yet,  I  trust,  that 
I  have  succeeded  in  so  linking  the  two  together,  as  to  prevent  the 
lines  of  junction  from  obtruding  themselves  offensively  upon  hig 
consciousness.  Upon  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  object, 
apart  from  the  native  interest  which  the  subject  itself  possesses, 
depends  all  the  merit  of  the  performance.  It  is  by  raising  the 
tone  of  the  history,  warming  it  with  the  hues  of  fancy,  and  making 
it  dramatic  by  the  continued  exercise  of  art,  rather  than  by  any 
actual  violation  of  its  recorded  facts,  that  I  have  endeavored  to 
awaken  interest.  To  bring  out  such  portions  of  the  event  as 
demand  elevation — to  suppress  those  which  are  only  cumbrous, 
and  neither  raise  the  imposing,  nor  relieve  the  unavoidable ;  and 
to  supply,  from  the  probable,  the  apparent  deficiencies  of  the 
actual,  have  been  the  chief  processes  in  the  art  which  I  have 
employed.  What  is  wholly  fictitious  will  appear  rather  as  episo- 
dical matter,  than  as  a  part  of  the  narrative ;  and  a  brief  historical 
summary,  even  in  regard  to  the  episode,  shall  occasionally  be 
employed  to  determine,  for  the  reader,  upon  how  much,  or  how 
little,  he  may  properly  rely  as  history. 
*• 


yi  EPISTLE   DEDICATORY. 

The  experiment  of  Coligny,  in  colonizing  Florida,  is  one  of 
those  remarkable  instances  in  the  early  settlement  of  this  country, 
which  deserve  the  particular  attention  of  our  people.     Its  wild  and 
dark  events,  its  startling  tragedies,  its  picturesque  and  exciting 
incidents,  long  since  impressed  themselves  upon  my  imagination, 
as  offering  suitable  materials  for  employment  in  romantic  fiction. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  work  which  follows,  I  have  rather  yielded 
to  the  requisitions  of  publishers  and  the  public,  than  followed  the 
suggestions  of  my  own  taste  and  judgment.     Originally,  I  com- 
menced the  treatment  of  this  material,  in  the  form  of  poetry ;  but 
the  stimulus  to  a  keen  prosecution  of  the  task  was  wanting :  not 
so  much,  perhaps,  in  consequence  of  my  own  diminished  interest 
in  the  subject,  as  because  of  the  indifference  of  readers ;  who,  in 
all  periods  have  determined  the  usual  direction  of  the  writer. 
Hereafter,  I  may  prosecute  the  experiment  upon  this  history  in 
still  another  fashion.     I  do  not  regard  this  work  as  precluding  me 
from  trying  the  malleability  of  its  subject,  and  from  seeking  to 
force  it  into  a  mould  more  grateful  to  the  dictates  of  my  imagina- 
tion.    In  abandoning  the  design,  however,  of  shaping  it  to  the 
form  of  narrative  poetry,  I  may,  at  least,  submit  to  the  reader 
such  portions  of  the  verse  as  are  already  written.     My  purpose, 
as  will  be  seen,  by  the  fragmentary  passages  which  follow  fin  the 
Appendix  at  the  close  of  the  volume,)  was  to  seize  upon  the  strong 
points  of  the  subject,  and  exhibit  the  whole  progress  of  the  action, 
in  so  many  successive  scenes ;  as  in  the  plan  adopted  by  Rogers 
in  his  "  Columbus" — the  one  scene  naturally  forming  the  intro- 
duction to  the  other,  and  the  whole,  a  complete  and  single  his- 
tory.    To  these  fragments  let  me  refer  you.     With  these,  my 
original  design  found  its  limit ;  the  spirit  which  had  urged  me  thus 
far,  no  longer  quickening  me  with  that  impatient  eagerness  which 


EPISTLE    DEDICATORY.  VU 

can  alone  justify  poetic  labors.  The  plan  is  one  which  I  am  no 
longer  likely  to  pursue.  It  will  no  doubt  have  a  place  of  safe- 
keeping and  harborage  in  some  one  of  Astolpho's  mansions.  It 
need  not  be  deplored  on  earth.  I  shall  be  but  too  happy  if  those 
who  read  the  performance  which  follows,  shall  forbear  the  wish 
that  it  had  shared  the  same  destiny.  To  you,  at  least,  I  venture 
to  commend  it  with  a  very  "different  hope. 

Very  truly  yours,  as  ever, 

THE  AUTHOR. 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  > 
May  1,  1850.          ( 


CONTENTS, 


i. 

THE  FIRST  VOYAGE  OF  KIBAULT, 


II. 

THE  COLONY  UNDER  ALBERT, 29 

III. 
THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE,  Chap.  1 37 

IV. 
THE  LEGEND  OF  G-UERNACHE,  Chap.  H 44 

V. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE,  Chap.  Ill 69 

VI. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE,  Chap.  IV 71 

VII. 
LACHANE,  THE  DELIVERER, 81 


X  CONTENTS. 

VIII. 

FLIGHT,  FAMINE,  AND  THE  BLOODY  FEAST  OP  THE  FUGI- 
TIVES,        100 

IX. 

THE  SECOND  EXPEDITION  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS  TO  FLORIDA,  110 

X. 

HISTORICAL  SUMMARY, 123 

XL 

THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENRE — HISTORICAL  SUMMARY     .  131 

XII 

THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENRE, 133 

XIII. 
HISTORICAL  SUMMARY, 164 

XIV. 
THE  SEDITION  AT  LA  CAROLINE, 166 

XV. 
THE  MUTINEERS  AT  SEA, 185 

XVI. 
THE  ADVENTURE  OF  D'ERLACH, 193 

XVII. 
THE  NARRATIVE  OF  LE  BARBU, 218 


CONTENTS.  XI 

XVIII. 
HISTORICAL  SUMMARY, 251 

XIX. 
CAPTIVITY  OF  THE  GREAT  PARACOUSSI, 263 

XX. 
IRACANA, 294 

XXI. 
HISTORICAL  SUMMARY, 310 

XXII. 
THE  FATE  OF  LA  CAROLINE, 321 

XXIII. 
THE  FORTUNES  OF  RIBAULT, 364 

XXIY. 
ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH, 387 

XXY. 
DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES, 414 

APPENDIX, 463 


THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM, 


I. 


THE  FIRST  VOYAGE  OF  RIBAULT. 

Introduction— The  Huguenots — Their  Condition  in  France— First  Expedition  for  th« 
New  World,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Admiral  Coligny,  Conducted  by  John  Ribault-*- 
Colony  Established  in  Florida,  and  confided  to  the  charge  of  Captain  Albert. 

THE  Huguenots,  in  plain  terms,  were  the  Protestants  of 
France.  They  were  a  sect  which  rose  very  soon  after  the 
preaching  of  the  Reformation  had  passed  from  Germany  into  the 
neighboring  countries.  In  France,  they  first  excited  the  appre- 
hensions and  provoked  the  hostility  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood,  during  the  reign  of  Francis  the  First.  This  prince, 
unstable  as  water,  and  governed  rather  by  his  humors  and  caprices 
than  by.,  any  fixed  principles  of  conduct — wanting,  perhaps, 
equally  in  head  and  heart — showed  himself,  in  the  outset  of  his 
career,  rather  friendly  to  the  reformers.  But  they  were  soon 
destined  to  suffer,  with  more  decided  favorites,  from  the  caprices 
of  his  despotism.  He  subsequently  became  one  of  their  most 
cruel  persecutors.  The  Huguenots  were  not  originally  known  by 
this  name.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  one  of  their  own 
choosing.  It  was  the  name  which  distinguished  them  in  the  days 

of  their  persecution.    Though  frequently 'the  subject  of  con- 
1 


2  THE   LILY   AND    THE    TOTEM. 

jecture,  its  origin  is  very  doubtful.  Montluc,  the  Marshal,  whose 
position  at  the  time,  and  whose  interests  in  the  subject  of  religion 
were  such  as  might  have  enabled  him  to  know  quite  as  well  as 
any  other  person,  confesses  that  the  source  and  meaning  of  the 
appellation  were  unknown.  It  is  suggested  that  the  name  was 
taken  from  the  tower  of  one  Hugon,  or  Hugo,  at  Tours,  where 
the  Protestants  were  in  the  habit  of  assembling  secretly  for 
worship.  This,  by  many,  is  assumed  to  be  the  true  origin  of 
the  word.  But  there  are  numerous  etymologies  besides,  from 
which  the  reader  may  make  his  selection, — all  more  or  less 
plausibly  contended  for  by  the  commentators.  The  commence- 
ment of  a  petition  to  the  Cardinal  Lorraine — "  Hue  nos  venimus, 
eerenissime  princeps,  &c.,"  furnishes  a  suggestion  to  one  set  of 
writers.  Another  finds  in  the  words  "  Heus  quenaus,"  which,  in 
the  Swiss  patois,  signify  "  seditious  fellows,"  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  thing  for  which  he  seeks.  Heghenen  or  Huguenen,a 
Flemish  word,  which  means  Puritans,  or  Cathari,  is  reasonably 
urged  by  Caseneuve,  as  the  true  authority ;  while  Yerdier  tells  us 
that  they  were  so  called  from  their  being  the  apes  or  followers  of 
John  Hus — "  les  guenons  de  Hus ;" — guenon  being  a  young  ape. 
This  is  ingenious  enough  without  being  complimentary.  The 
etymology  most  generally  received,  according  to  Mr.  Browning, 
(History  of  the  Huguenots,)  is  that  which  ascribes  the  origin  of 
the  name  to  "  the  word  JEignot,  derived  from  the  German 
JEidegenossen,  q.  e.  federati.  A  party  thus  designated  existed  at 
Geneva ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  French  Protestants 
would  adopt  a  term  so  applicable  to  themselves."  There  are, 
however,  sundry  other  etymologies,  all  of  which  seem  equally 
plausible;  but  these  will  suffice,  at  least,  to  increase  the  difficulties 
of  conjecture,  Either  will  answer,  since  the  name  by  which  the 


..       THE    HUGUENOTS.  3 

child  is  christened  is  never  expected  to  foreshadow  his  future 
character,  or  determine  his  career.  The  name  of  the  Huguenots 
was  probably  bestowed  by  the  enemies  of  the  sect.  It  is  in  all 
likelihood  a  term  of  opprobrium  or  contempt.  It  will  not  materially 
concern  us,  in  the  scheme  of  the  present  performance,  that  we 
should  reach  any  definite  conclusion  on  this  point.  Their 
European  history  must  be  read  in  other  volumes.  Ours  is  but 
the  American  episode  in  their  sad  and  protracted  struggle  with 
their  foes  and  fortune.  Unhappily,  for  present  inquiry,  this 
portion  of  their  history  attracted  but  too  little  the  attention  of 
the  parent  country.  We  a/e  told  of  colonies  in  America,  and  of 
their  disastrous  termination,  but  the  details  are  meagre,  touched 
by  the  chronicler  with  a  slight  and  careless  hand  ;  and,  but  for 
the  striking  outline  of  the  narrative, — the  leading  and  prominent 
events  which  compelled  record, — it  is  one  that  we  should  pass 
without  comment,  and  with  no  awakening  curiosity.  But  the  few 
terrible  particulars  which  remain  to  us  in  the  ancient  summary,  are 
of  a  kind  to  reward  inquiry,  and  command  the  most  active  sym- 
pathies ;  and  the  melancholy  outline  of  the  Huguenots'  progress, 
in  the  New  World,  exhibits  features  of  trial,  strength  and 
suffering,  which  render  their  career  equally  unique  in  both  coun- 
tries ; — a  dark  and  bloody  history,  involving  details  of  strife,  of 
enterprise,  and  sorrow,  which  denied  them  the  securities  of  home 
in  the  parent  land,  and  even  the  most  miserable  refuge  from 
persecution  in  the  wildernesses  of  a  savage  empire.  Their 
European  fortunes  are  amply  developed  in  all  the  European 
chronicles.  Our  narrative  relates  wholly  to  those  portions  of  their 
history  which  belong  to  America. 

It  is  not  so  generally  known  that  the  colonies  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, in  the  new  world,  were  almost  coeval  with  those  of  the 


4  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Spaniards.  They  anticipated  them  in  the  northern  portions  of 
the  continent.  These  settlements  were  projected  by  the  active 
genius  of  the  justly-celebrated  French  admiral,  Graspard  de  Col- 
igny,  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  Huguenots  in  France.  His 
persevering  energies,  impelled  by  his  sagacious  forethought,  effect- 
ed a  beginning  in  the  work  of  foreign  colonization,  which,  unhap- 
pily for  himself  and  party,  he  was  not  permitte'd  to  prosecute, 
with  the  proper  vigor,  to  successful  completion.  His  sagacity 
led  him  to  apprehend,  from  an  early  experience  of  the  character 
of  the  Queen-mother,  in  the  bigoted  and  brutal  reign  of  Charles 
the  Ninth,  that  there  would,  in  little  time,  be  no  safety  in  France 
for  the  dissenters  from  the  established  religion.  The  feebleness 
of  the  youthful  Prince,  the  jealous  and  malignant  character  of 
Catharine — her  utter  faithlessness,  and  the  hatred  which  she  felt 
for  the  Protestants,  which  no  pact  could  bind,  and  no  concession 
mollify, — to  say  nothing  of  the  controlling  will  of  Pius  the  Fifth, 
who  had  ascended  the  Papal  throne,  sworn  to  the  extermination 
of  all  heresies, — all  combined  to  assure  the  Protestants  of  the 
dangers  by  which  their  cause  was  threatened.  The  danger  was 
one  of  life  as  well  as  religion.  It  was  in  the  destruction  of  the 
one,  that  the  enemies  of  the  Huguenots  contemplated  the  over- 
throw of  the  other.  Coligny  was  not  the  man  to  be  deceived  by 
the  hollow  compromises,  the  delusive  promises,  the  false  truces, 
which  were  all  employed  in  turn  to  beguile  him  and  his  associates 
into  confidence,  and  persuade  them  into  the  most  treacherous 
snares.  He  combined  a  fair  proportion  of  the  cunning  of  the 
serpent  with  the  dove's  purity,  and,  maintaining  strict  watch 
upon  his  enemies,  succeeded,  for  a  long  period,  in  eluding  the 
artifices  by  which  he  was  overcome  at  last.  Availing  himself  of 
the  influence  of  his  position,  and  of  a  brief  respite  from  that  open 


ATTEMPT    AT    COLONIZATION.  5 

war  which  preceded  the  famous  Edict  of  January,  1562,  by  which 
the  Huguenots  were  admitted,  with  some  restrictions,  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  religion,  Coligny  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of 
establishing  a  colony  of  Protestants  in  America.  He  readily 
divined  the  future  importance,  to  his  sect,  of  such  a  place  of 
refuge.  The  moment  was  favorable  to  his  objects.  The  policy 
of  the  Queen-mother  was  not  yet  sufficiently  matured,  to  render 
it  proper  that  she  should  oppose  herself  to  his  desires.  Perhaps, 
she  also  conceived  the  plan  a  good  one,  which  should  relieve  the 
country  of  a  race  whom  she  equally  loathed  and  dreaded.*  It  is 
possible  that  she  did  not  fully  conjecture  the  ultimate  calculations 
of  the  admiral.  The  king,  himself,  was  a  minor,  entirely  in  her 
hands,  who  could  add  nothing  to  her  counsels,  or,  for  the  present, 
interfere  with  her  authority ;  and,  without  seeking  farther  to  in- 
quire by  what  motives  she  was  governed  in  according  to  Coligny 
the  permission  which  he  sought,  it  is  enough  that  he  obtained  the 
necessary  sanction.  Of  this  he  readily  availed  himself.  It  was  not, 
by  the  way,  his  first  attempt  at  colonization.  Having  in  view  the 
same  objects  by  which  he  was  governed  in  the  present  instance, 
he  had,  in  1555,  sent  out  an  expedition  to  Brazil  under  Villegag- 
non.  This  enterprise  had  failed  through  the  perfidy  of  that  com- 
mander. Its  failure  did  not  discourage  the  admiral.  Though 
the  full  character  of  Catharine  had  not  developed  itself,  in  all  its 
cruel  and  heartless  characteristics,  it  was  yet  justly  understood  by 
*  Charlevoix  expressly  says,  speaking,  however,  of  Charles  IX.,  "  qu'il 
fut  fort  aise  de  voir  que  M.  de  Coligni  n'employoit  k  cette  expedition  que 
des  .Calvinistes,  parce  que  c'etoit  autant  d'ennemis,  dont  il  purgeoit 
1'etat."  Of  Coligny's  anxiety  in  regard  to  this  expedition  and  his  objects, 
the  same  writer  says  :  "  Coligny  had  the  colony  greatly  at  heart.  It  was, 
in  fact,  the  first  thing  of  which  the  admiral  spoke  to  the  king  when  he 
obtained  permission  to  repair  to  the  court." 


I 
THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


him,  and  he  never  suffered  himself  to  forget  how  necessary  to  the 
sect  which  he  represented  was  the  desired  haven  of  security  which 
he  sought,  in  a  region  beyond  her  influence. 

From  Brazil  he  turned  his  eyes  on  Florida.  This  terra  incog- 
nita,  at  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  was  El  Dorado  to  the 
European  imagination.  It  was  the  New  Empire,  richer  than 
Peru  or  Mexico,  in  which  adventurers  as  daring  as  Cortes  and 
Pizarro  were  to  compass  realms  of  as  great  magnificence  and 
wealth.  Already  had  the  Spaniard  traversed  it  with  his  iron-clad 
warriors,  seeking  vainly,  and  through  numberless  perils,  for  the 
treasure  which  he  worshipped.  Still  other  treasures  had  won  the 
imagination  of  one  of  their  noblest  knights  ;  and  in  exploring  the 
wild  realm  of  the  Floridian  for  the  magical  fountain  which  was  to 
restore  youth  to  the  heart  of  age,  and  a  fresh  bloom  to  its  withered 
aspect,  Ponce  de  Leon  pursued  one  of  the  loveliest  phantoms 
that  ever  deluded  the  fancy  or  the  heart  of  man.  To  him  had 
succeeded  others ;  all  seeking,  in  turn,  the  realization  of  those 
unfruitful  visions  which,  like  wandering  lights  of  the  swamp  forest, 
only  glitter  to  betray.  Vasquez  d'Ayllon,  John  Verazzani,  Pam- 
philo  de  Narvaez,  and  the  more  brilliant  cavalier  than  all,  Her- 
nando  de  Soto,  had  each  penetrated  this  land  of  hopes  and  fancies, 
to  deplore  in  turn  its  disappointments  and  delusions.  With  the 
wildest  desires  in  their  hearts,  they  had  disdained  the  merely  pos- 
sible within  then*  reach.  They  had  sought  for  possessions  such 
as  few  empires  have  been  known  to  yield  ;  and  had  failed  to  see,  or 
had  beheld  with  scorn,  the  simple  treasures  of  fruit  and  flower  which 
the  country  promised  and  proffered  in  abundance.  This  vast  re- 
gion, claimed  equally  by  Spain,  France,  and  England,  still  lay 
derelict.  "  Death,"  as  one  of  our  own  writers  very  happily  re- 
marks, "  seemed  to  guard  the  avenues  of  the  country."  None 


BEAUTIFUL    COUNTRY.  7 

of  the  great  realms  which  claimed  it  as  their  domain,  regarded  it 
in  any  light  but  as  a  territory  which  they  might  ravage.  Yet, 
well  might  its  delicious  climate,  the  beauty  of  its  groves  and 
forests,  the  sweets  of  its  flowers,  which  beguiled  the  senses  of  the 
ocean  pilgrim  a  score  of  leagues  from  land — to  say  nothing  of  the 
supposed  wealth  of  its  mountains,  and  of  the  great  cities  hid 
among  their  far  recesses — have  persuaded  the  enterprise,  and  im- 
plored the  prows  of  enterprise  and  adventure.  To  these  attractions 
the  previous  adventurers  had  not  wholly  shown  themselves  insen- 
sible. Ponce  de  Leon,  enraptured  with  its  rich  and  exquisite 
vegetation,  as  seen  in  the  spring  season  of  the  year,  first  conferred 
upon  it  the  name  of  beauty,  which  it  bears.  Nor,  had  he  not  been 
distracted  by  baser  objects,  would  he  have  failed  utterly  to  dis- 
cover the  salubrious  fountains  which  he  sought.  Here  were  met 
natives,  who,  quaffing  at  medicinal  streams  by  which  the  country 
was  everywhere  watered,  grew  to  years  which  almost  rival  those 
of  the  antediluvian  fathers.  Verazzani,  the  Florentine,  unfolds  a 
golden  chronicle  of  the  innocence  and  delight  which  distinguished 
the  simple  people  by  whom  the  territory  was  possessed,  and  whose 
character  was  derived  from  the  gentle  influences  of  their  climate, 
and  the  exquisite  delicacy,  beauty,  and  variety  of  the  productions 
of  the  soil.  He,  too,  had  visited  the  country  in  the  season  of 
spring,  when  all  things  in  nature  look  lovely  to  the  eye.  But 
such  verdure  as  blessed  his  vision  on  this  occasion,  constituted  a 
new  era  in  his  life,  and  seemed  to  lift  him.  to  the  crowning  achieve- 
ment of  all  his  enterprises.  The  region,  as  far  his  eye  could  reach, 
was  covered  with  "  faire  fields  and  plaines,"  "  full  of  mightie 
great  woodes,"  "  replenished  with  divers  sort  of  trees,  as  pleasant 
and  delectable  to  behold  as  is  possible  to  imagine  ; — "  Not,"  says 
the  voyager,  "  like  the  woodes  of  Hercynia  or  the  wilde  deserts 


8  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

of  Tartary,  and  the  northerne  coasts  full  of  fruitlesse  trees,"  but 
trees  of  sortes  unknowen  in  Europe,  which  yeeld  most  sweete  sa- 
vours farre  from  the  shoare."  Nor  did  these  constitute  the  only 
attractions.  The  appearance  of  the  forests  and  the  land  "  argued 
drugs  and  spicery,"  "  and  other  riches  of  golde." 

The  woods  were  "  full  of  many  beastes,  as  stags,  deere  and 
hares,  and  likewise  of  lakes  and  pooles  of  fresh  water,  with  great 
plentie  of  fowles,  convenient  for  all  kinde  of  pleasant  game." 
The  air  was  "  goode  and  wholesome,  temperate  between  hot  and 
colde  ;"  "  no  vehement  windes  doe  blowe  in  these  regions,  and 
those  that  do  commonly  reigne  are  the  southwest  and  west  windes 
in  the  summer  season  ;"  "  the  skye  cleare  and  faire,  with  very 
little  raine  ;  and  if,  at  any  time,  the  ayre  be  cloudie  and  rnistie 
with  the  southerne  winde,  immediately  it  is  dissolved  and  waxeth 
cleare  and  faire  againe.  The  sea  is  calme,  not  boisterous,  and 
the  waves  gentle."  And  the  people  were  like  their  climate. 
The  nature  which  yielded  to  their  wants,  without  exacting  the 
toil  of  ever-straining  sinews,  left  them  unembittered  by  necessities 
which  take  the  heart  from  youth,  and  the  spirit  from  play  and 
exercise.  No  carking  cares  interfered  with  their  humanity  to 
check  hospitality  in  its  first  impulse,  and  teach  avarice  to  with- 
hold the  voluntary  tribute  which  the  natural  virtues  would  prompt, 
in  obedience  to  a  selfishness  that  finds  its  justification  in  serious 
toils  which  know  no  remission,  and  a  forethought  that  is  never 
permitted  to  forget  the  necessities  of'the  coming  day.  Yerazzani 
found  the  people  as  mild  and  grateful  as  their  climate.  They 
crowded  to  the  shore  as  the  stranger  ships  drew  nigh,  "  making 
divers  synes  of  friendship."  They  showed  themselves  "  very 
courteous  and  gentle,"  and,  in  a  single  incident,  won  the  hearts 
of  the  Europeans,  who  seldom,  at  that  period,  in  their  intercourse 


KINDNESS    OF    THE    NATIVES  9 

with  the  natives,  were  known  to  exhibit  an  instance  so  beautiful, 
of  a  humanity  so  Christian.  A  young  sailor,  attempting  to  swim 
on  shore,  had  overrated  his  strength.  Cast  among  the  breakers, 
he  was  in  danger  of  being  drowned.  This,  when  the  Indians 
saw,  they  dashed  into  the  surf,  and  dragged  the  fair-skinned 
voyager  to  land.  Here,  when  he  recovered  from  his  stupor,  he 
exhibited  signs  of  the  greatest  apprehension,  finding  himself  in 
the  hands  of  the  savages.  But  his  lamentations,  which  were 
piteously  loud,  only  provoked  theirs.  Their  tears  flowed  at  his 
weeping.  In  this  way  they  strove  to  "  cheere  him,  and  to  give 
him  courage."  Nor  were  they  neglectful  of  other  means. 
"  They  set  him  on  the  ground,  at  the  foot  of  a  little  hill  against 
the  sunne,  and  began  to  behold  him  with  great  admiration, 
marveiling  at  the  whitenesse  of  his  fleshe  ;"  "  Putting  off  his 
clothes,  they  made  him  warme  at  a  great  fire,  not  without  one 
great  feare,  by  what  r.emayned  in  the  boate,  that  they  would 
have  rested  him  at  that  fire  and  have  eaten  him,"  But  the 
fear  was  idle.  When  they  had  warmed  and  revived  the  stranger, 
they  reclothed  him,  and  as  he  showed  an  anxiety  to  return  to  the 
ship,  "  they,  with  great  love,  clapping  him  fast  about  with  many 
embracings,"  accompanied  him  to  the  shore,  where  they  left  him, 
retiring  to  a  distance,  whence  they  could  witness  his  departure 
without  awakening  the  apprehensions  of  his  comrades.  These 
people  were  of  "  middle  stature,  hands<mie  visage  and  delicate 
limmes  ;  of  very  little  strength,  but  of  prompt  wit." 

We  need  not  pursue  the  details  of  these  earlier  historians. 
They  suffice  to  direct  attention  to  Florida,  and  to  persuade  adven- 
ture with  fanciful  ideas  of  its  charming  superiority  over  all  unknown 
regions.  But  the  adventurers,  until  Coligny's  enterprise  was 
conceived,  meditated  the  invasion  of  the  country,  and  the 


10  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

gathering  of  its  hidden  treasures,  rather  than  the  establishment 
of  any  European  settlements  in  its  glorious  retreats.  It  was  not 
till  the  eighteenth  day  of  February,  in  the  Year  of  Grace,  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-two,  that  the  plan  of  the  Admiral 
of  France  was  sufficiently  matured  for  execution.  On  that  day 
he  despatched  two  vessels  from  France,  well  manned  and 
furnished,  under  the  command  of  one  John  Bibault,*  for  the 
express  purpose  of  making  the  first  permanent  European  estab- 
lishment in  these  regions  of  romance.  The  narrative  of  this 
enterprise  is  chiefly  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Rene  Laudonniere, 
who  himself  went  out  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  expedition.  Laudon- 
niere,  in  his  narrative  of  their  progress,  says  nothing  of  the  secret 
objects  of  Coligny,  of  which  he  probably  knew  nothing.  He 
ascribes  to  the  King — the  Queen-mother,  rather — a  nobler  policy 
than  either  of  them  ever  entertained.  "  My  Lord  of  Chastillon," 
(Coligny)  thus  he  writes, — "  A  nobleman  more  desirous  of  the 
publique  than  of  his  private  benefits,  understanding  the  pleasure 
of  the  King,  his  Prince,  which  was  to  discover  new  and  strange 
countries,  caused  vessels  for  this  purpose  to  be  made  ready  with 
all  diligence,  and  men  to  be  levied  meet  for  such  an  enterprise." 
This  is  merely  courtly  language,  wholly  conventional,  and  which, 
spoken  of  Charles  the  Ninth, — a  boy  not  yet  in  his  teens — savors 
rather  of  the  ridiculous.  There  is  no  question  that  the  expedition 
oiiginated  wholly  with  Coligny  ;  as  little  is  it  questionable,  though 
Laudonniere  says  nothing  on  this  subject,  that  it  was  designed  in 
consequence  of  that  policy  which  showed  him  the  ever  present 

»  Charlevoix  describes  Kibault  as  "  un  ancien  officier  de  marine,"  and 
speaks  of  him  as  a  man  of  experience  and  "Zele  Huguenot."  Of  his 
Teasels,  on  this  expedition,  he  says  that  they  belonged  to  the  class  called 
"  Roberges,  et  qui  differoient  peu  des  Caravelles  Espagnolles." 


FIRST    EXPEDITION.  11 

danger  of  the  Huguenots.  It  does  not  militate  against  this  policy 
that  he  made  use  of  a  pretext  which  was  suggested  by  the  passion 
for  maritime  discovery  common  in  those  days.  By  the  assertion 
of  this  pretext,  he  was  the  more  easily  enabled  to  persuade  the 
Queen-mother  to  a  measure  upon  which  she  otherwise  would  never 
have  suffered  the  ships  of  the  Huguenots  to  weigh  anchor. 

But  this  question  need  not  detain  us.  Laudonniere  speaks  of 
the  armament  as  ample  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  de- 
signed— "  so  well  furnished  with  gentlemen  and  with  oulde  soul- 
diers  that  he  (Ribault)  had  meanes  to  achieve  some  notable  thing, 
and  worthie  of  eternall  memorie."  This  was  an  exaggeration, 
something  Spanish  in  its'  tenor, — one  of  those  flourishes  of  rhet- 
oric among  the  voyagers  of  that  day,  which  had  already  grown  to 
be  a  sound  without  much  signification.  The  vessels  were'small, 
as  was  the  compliment  of  men  dispatched.  The  objects  of  the 
expedition  were  limited,  did  not  contemplate  exploration  but 
settlement,  and,  consequently,  were  not  likely  to  find  opportunity 
for  great  enterprises.  The  voyage  occupied  two  months  ;  the 
route  pursued  carefully  avoided  that  usually  taken  by  the  Spa- 
niards, whom  already  our  adventurers  had  cause  to  fear.  At  the 
end  of  this  period,  land  was  made  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Augustine, 
to  the  cape  of  which  they  gave  the  name  of  St.  Frangois.  From 
this  point,  coasting  northwardly,  they  discovered  "  a  very  faire 
and  great  river" — the  San  Matheo  of  the  Spaniards,  now  the  St. 
John's,  to  which  Ribault,  as  he  discovered  it  on  the  first  of  May, 
gave  the  name  of  that  month.  This  river  he  penetrated  in  his 
boats.  He  was  met  on  the  shore  by  many  of  the  natives,  men 
and  women.  These  received  him  with  gentleness  and  peace. 
Their  chief  man  made  an  oration,  and  honored  Ribault,  at  the 
close,  with  a  present  of  "  chamois  skinnes."  On  the  ensuing  day, 


12  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

he  "  caused  a  pillar  of  hard  stone  to  be  planted  within  the  sayde 
river,  and  not  farre  from  the  mouth  of  the  same,  upon  a  little 
sandie  knappe,"  on  which  the  arms  of  France  were  engraved. 
Crossing  to  the  opposite  shores  of  this  river,  a  religious  service 
was  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  Indians.  There  the  red- 
men,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  beheld  the  pure  and  simple  rites 
of  the  genuine  Christian.  Prayers  were  said,  and  thanks  given  to 
the  Deity,  "  for  that,  of  his  grace,  hee  had  conducted  the  French 
nation  into  these  strange  places."  This  service  being  ended,  the 
Indians  conducted  the  strangers  into  the  presence  of  their  king,* 
who  received  them  in  a  sitting  posture,  upon  a  couch  made  of 
bay  leaves  and  palmetto.  Speeches  were  made  between  the  par- 
ties which  were  understood  by  neither.  But .  their  tenor  was 
amicable,  the  savage  chieftain  giving  to  Ribault,  at  parting,  a 
basket  wrought  very  ingeniously  of  palm  leaves,  "  and  a  great 
skinne  painted  and  drawen  throughout  with  the  pictures  of  divers 
wilde  beastes ;  so  livly  drawen  and  portrayed  that  nothing  lacked 
life."  Fish  were  taken  for  the  Frenchmen  by  the  hospitable 
natives,  in  weirs  made  of  reeds,  fashioned  like  a  maze  or  laby- 
rinth— "  troutes,  great  mullets,  plaise,  turbots,  and  marvellous 
store  of  other  sorts  of  fishes  altogether  different  from  ours." 
Another  chief  upon  this  river  received  them  with  like  favors. 
Two  of  the  sons  of  this  chief  are  represented  as  "  exceeding  faire 
and  strong."  They  were  followed  by  troops  of  the  natives,  "  hav- 
ing their  bowes  and  arrowes,  in  rnarveilous  good  order." 

*  Laudonniere,  in  Hakluyt,  gives  the  regal  title  among  the  Floridians 
as  Paracoussi.  Charlevoix  writes  the  word  Paraousti,  or  Piracousti ;  *•  et 
ausquels  les  Castillans  donnent  le  titre  general  de  Caciques."  Mico,  in 
subsequent  periods,  seems  to  have  been  the  more  popular  title  among  the 
Florida  Indians,  signifying  the  same  thing,  or  its  equivalents,  Chief, 
Prjuce,  or  Head  Warrior. 


FIRST    EXPEDITION.  13 

From  this  river,  still  pursuing  a  northwardly  course,  Ribault 
came  to  another  which  he  explored  and  named  the  Seine,  (now 
the  St.  Mary's,)  because  it  appeared  to  resemble  the  river  of  that 
name  in  France.*  We  pass  over  the  minor  details  in  this  pro- 
gress— how  he  communed  with  the  natives — who,  everywhere 
seemed  to  have  entertained  our  Huguenots  with  equal  grace  and 
gentleness,  and  who  are  described  as  a  goodly  people,  of  lively 
wit  and  great  stature,  Eibault  continued  to  plant  columns,  and 
to  take  possession  of  the  country  after  the  usual  forms,  conferring 
names  upon  its  several  streams,  which  he  borrowed  for  the  pur- 
pose from  similar  well-known  rivers  in  France.  Thus,  for  a  time, 
tne  St.  Mary's  became  the  Seine  ;  the  Satilla,  the  Somme ;  the 
Altamaha,  the  Loire  ;  the  Ogechee,  the  Garonne  ;  and  the  Sa- 
vannah, the  Grironde.  The  river  to  which  his  prows  were 
especially  directed,  was  that  to  which  the  name  of  Jordan  had 
been  given  by  Yasquez  de  Ayllon,  some  forty  years  before.  This 
is  our  present  Combahee.  In  sailing  north,  in  this  search,  other 
smaller  rivers  were  discovered,  one  of  which  was  called  the  Belle- 
a-veoir.  Separated  by  a  furious  tempest  from  his  pinnaces,  which 
had  been  kept  in  advance  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating  and  ex- 
ploring these  streams,  Ribault,  with  his  ships,  was  compelled  to 
stand  out  to  sea.  When  he  regained  the  coast  and  his  pinnaces, 
he  was  advised  of  a  "  mightie  river,"  in  which  they  had  found 
safe  harborage  from  the  tempest,  a  river  which,  "  in  beautie 
and  bignesse"  exceeded  all  the  former.  Delighted  with  this  dis- 
covery, our  Huguenots  made  sail  to  reach  this  noble  stream. 

The  object  of  Ribault  had  been  some  safe  and  pleasant 
harborage,  in  which  his  people  could  refresh  themselves  for  a 

*  "  A  quatorze  lienes  de  la  Riviere  de  Mai,  il  en  trouva  une  troise'me 
qu'il  nomma  la  Seine.'*— Charhvoix's  New  France.  Liv.  1,  p.  39. 


14  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM 

season.  His  desires  were  soon  gratified.  He  cast  anchor  at  the 
mouth  of  a  mighty  river,  to  which,  "  because  of  the  fairnesse 
and  largenesse  thereoff,"  he  gave  the  name  of  Port  Royale,  the 
name  which  it  still  bears.  The  depth  of  this  river  is  such,  that, 
according  to  Laudonniere,  "  when  the  sea  beginneth  to  flowe,  the 
greatest  shippes  of  France,  yea,  the  argosies  of  Venice,  may 
enter  there."  Ribault,  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers,  was  the  first  to 
land.  Grateful,  indeed,  to  the  eye  and  fancy  of  our  Frenchmen, 
was  the  scene  around  them.  They  had  already  passed  through  a 
fairy-like  region,  of  islet  upon  islet,  reposing  upon  the  deep, — 
crowned  with  green  forests,  and  arresting,  as  it  were,  the  wild 
assaults  of  ocean  upon  the  shores  of  which  they  appeared  to  keep 
watch  and  guard.  And,  passing  between  these  islets  and  the 
main,  over  stillest  waters,  with  a  luxuriant  shrubbery  on  either 
hand,  and  vines  and  flowers  of  starred  luxuriance  trailing  about 
them  to  the  very  lips  of  this  ocean,  they  had  arrived  at  an  im- 
perial growth  of  forest.  The  mighty  shafts  that  rose  around 
them,  heavy  with  giant  limbs,  and  massed  in  their  Luxuriant 
wealth  of  leaves,  particularly  impressed  the  minds  of  our 
voyagers — "  mightye  high  oakes  and  infinite  store  of  cedars," 
and  pines  fitted  for  the  masts  of  "  such  great  ammirals  "  as  had 
never  yet  floated  in  the  European  seas.  Their  senses  were  assailed 
with  fresh  and  novel  delights  at  every  footstep.  The  superb 
magnolia,  with  its  great  and  snow-white  chalices ;  the  flowering 
dogwood  with  its  myriad  blossoms,  thick  and  richly  gleaming  as 
the  starry  host  of  heaven ;  the  wandering  jessamine,  whose 
yellow  trophies,  mingling  with  grey  mosses  of  the  oak,  stooped  to 
the  upward  struggling  billows  of  the  deep,  giving  out  odor  at 
every  rise  and  fall  of  the  ambitious  wavelet,— these,  by  their 
unwonted  treasures  of  scent  and  beauty,  compelled  the  silent  but 


ATTRACTIONS    OF    THE    REGION.  15 

profound  admiration  of  the  strangers.  "  Exceeding  pleasant  " 
did  the  "  very  fragrant  odour  "  make  the  place ;  while  other 
novelties  interposed  to  complete  the  fascinations  of  a  spot,  the 
peculiarities  of  which  were  equally  fresh  and  delightful.  Their 
farther  acquaintance  with  the  country  only  served  to  increase  its 
attractions.  As  they  wandered  through  the  woods,  they  "  saw 
nothing  but  turkey  cocks  flying  in  the  forests,  partridges,  gray  and 
red,  little  different  from  ours,  but  chiefly  in  bignesse  ;" — "  we 
heard  also  within  the  woods  the  voices  of  stagges,  of  beares,  of 
hyenas,  of  leopards,  and  divers  other  sorts  of  beasts  unknown 
to  us.  Being  delighted  with  this  place,  we  set  ourselves  to  fishing 
with  nets,  and  caught  such  a  number  of  fish  that  it  was  wonder- 
ful." 

The  same  region  is  still  renowned  for  its  fish  and  game,  for 
the  monsters  as  well  as  the  multitudes  of  the  deep,  and  for  the 
deer  of  its  spacious  swamps  and  forests,  which  still  exercise  the 
skill  and  enterprise  of  the  angler  and  the  hunter!  This  is  the 
peculiar  region  also,  of  the  u  Devil  fish,"  the  "  Vampire  of  the 
Ocean,"  described  by  naturalists  as  of  the  genus  Ray,  species 
Dio-don,  a  leviathan  of  the  deep,  whose  monstrous  antennas  are 
thrown  about  the  skiff  of  the  fisherman  with  an  embrace  as 
perilous  as  that  wanton  sweep  of  his  mighty  extremities  with  which 
the  whale  flings  abroad  the  crowding  boats  of  his  hardy  captors. 
Sea  and  land,  in  this  lovely  neighborhood,  still  gleam  freshly  and 
wondrously  upon  the  eye  of  the  visitor  as  in  the  days  of  our 
Huguenot  adventurers ;  and  still  do  its  forests,  in  spite  of  the 
cordon  which  civilization  and  society  have  everywhere  drawn 
around  them,  harbor  colonies  of  the  bear  which  occasionally  cross 
the  path  of  the  sportsman,  and  add  to  his  various  trophies  of  the 
chase. 


16  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

With  impressions  of  the  scene  and  region  such  as  realized  to 
our  Frenchmen  the  summer  glories  of  an  Arabian  tale,  it  was 
easy  to  determine  where  to  plant  their  colony.  Modern  conjec- 
ture, however,  is  still  unsatisfied  as  to  the  site  which  was  probably 
chosen  by  our  voyagers.  The  language  of  Laudonniere  is  suffi- 
ciently vague  and  general  to  make  the  matter  doubtful;  and,  un- 
happily, there  are  no  remains  which  might  tend  to  lessen  the 
obscurity  of  the  subject.  The  vessels  had  cast  anchor  at  the 
mouth  of  Port  Royal  River.  The  pilots  subsequently  coun- 
selled that  they  should  penetrate  the  stream,  so  as  to  secure  a 
sheltered  roadstead.  They  ascended  the  river  accordingly,  some 
three  leagues  from  its  mouth,  when  Ribault  proceeded  to  make  a 
closer  examination  of  the  country.  The  Port  Royal  "  is  divided 
into  two  great  armes,  whereof  the  one  runneth  toward  the  west, 
the  other  toward  the  north."  Our  Huguenot  captain  chose  the 
western  avenue,  which  he  ascended  in  his  pinnace.  For  more  than 
twelve  leagues  he  continued  this  progress,  until  he  "  found  another 
arme  of  the  river  which  ranne  towards  the  east,  up  which  the 
captain  determined  to  sail  and  leave  the  greate  current." 

The  red  men  whom  they  encounter  on  this  progress  are  at  first 
shy  of  the  strangers  and  take  flight  at  their  approach,  but  they 
are  soon  encouraged  by  the  gentleness  and  forbearance  of  the 
Frenchmen,  who  persuade  them  finally  to  confidence.  An  amia- 
ble understanding  soon  reconciles  the  parties,  and  the  Floridian 
at  length  brings  forward  his  gifts  of  maize,  his  palm  baskets  with 
fruits  and  flowers,  his  rudely-dressed  skins  of  bear  and  beaver,  and 
these  are  pledges  of  his  amity  which  he  does  not  violate.  He, in 
turn,  persuades  the  voyagers  to  draw  near  to  the  shore  and  finally 
to  land.  They  are  soon  surrounded  by  the  delighted  and  simple 
natives,  whose  gifts  are  multiplied  duly  in  degree  with  the  plea- 


WEALTH    OF    THE    COUNTRY.  17 

sure  which  they  feel.  Skins  of  the  chamois — deer  rather — and 
baskets  of  pearls,  are  offered  to  the  chief  among  the  whites,  whom 
they  proceed  to  entertain  with  shows  of  still  greater  courtesy.  A 
bower  of  forest  leaves  and  shrubs  is  soon  built  to  shelter  them 
"  from  the  parching  heate  of  the  sunne,"  and  our  Frenchmen  lin- 
gered long  enough  among  this  artless  and  hospitable  people  to 
get  tidings  of  a  "  greate  Indian  Lorde  which  had  pearles  in  great 
abundance  and  silver  also,  all  of  which  should  be  given  them  at 
the  king's  arrival."  They  invited  the  strangers  to  their  dwellings 
— proffering  to  show  them  a  thousand  pleasures  in  shooting,  and 
seeing  the  death  of  the  stag. 

Our  Huguenots,  excellent  Christians  though  they  were,  were 
by  no  means  insensible  to  the  tidings  of  pearl  and  gold.  These 
glimpses  of  treasures,  already  familiar  to  their  imaginations, 
greatly  increase,  in  their  sight,  the  natural  beauties  of  the  coun- 
try. The  narratives  of  the  red  men,  imperfectly  understood,  and 
construed  by  the  desires  of  the  strangers,  rather  than  their  minds, 
were  full  of  marvels  of  neighboring  lands  and  nations, — great  em- 
pires of  wealth  and  strength, — cities  in  romantic  solitudes, — high 
places  among  almost  inaccessible  mountains,  in  which  the  trea- 
sures are  equally  precious  and  abundant.  Listening  to  such 
legends,  our  Frenchmen  linger  with  the  red  men,  until  the  ap- 
proach of  night  counsels  them  to  seek  the  security  of  their  ships. 

But,  with  the  dawning  of  the  following  day  the  explorations 
were  resumed.  Before  leaving  his  vessel,  however,  Ribault  pro- 
vides himself  with  "  a  pillar  of  hard  stone,  fashioned  like  a  column, 
whereon  the  armes  of  France  were  graven,"  with  the  purpose  of 
planting  "  the  same  in  the  fairest  place  that  he  coulde  finde." 
"  This  done,  we  embarked  ourselves,  and  sayled  three  leagues 
towards  the  west ;  where  we  discovered  a  little  river,  up  which 


18  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

wee  sayled  so  long,  that,  in  the  ende,  wee  found  it  returned  into 
the  great  current,  and  in  his  return,  to  make  a  little  island  sepa- 
rated from  the  firme  lande,  where  wee  went  on  shore,  and  by 
commandment  of  the  captain,  because  it  was  exceeding  faire 
and  pleasant,  there  we  planted  the  pillar  upon  a  hillock  open 
round  about  to  the  view  and  environed  with  a  lake  halfe  a  fathom 
deepe,  of  very  good  and  sweete  water." 

We  are  particular  in  these  details,  in  the  hope  that  future 
explorers  may  be  thus  assisted  in  the  work  of  identifying  the 
places  marked  by  our  Huguenots.  Everything  which  they  see  in 
the  new  world  which  surrounds  them,  is  imposing  to  the  eye  and 
grateful  to  the  sense.  They  wander  among  avenues  of  gigantic 
pines  that  remind  them  of  the  mighty  colonnades  in  the  great 
cathedrals  of  the  old  world.  They  are  at  once  exhilarated  by  a 
sense  of  unwonted  freshness  and  beauty  in  what  they  behold,  and 
by  aspects  of  grandeur  and  vastness  which  solemnize  all  their 
thoughts  and  fancies.  With  these  feelings,  when,  in  their  wander- 
ings, they  arouse  from  the  shady  covers  where  they  browsed  "  two 
Btagges  of  exceeding  bignesse,  in  respect  of  those  which  they  had 
seene  before,"  their  captain  forbids  that  they  should  shoot  them, 
though  they  might  easily  have  done  so.  The  anecdote  speaks 
well  for  Ribault's  humanity.  It  was  not  wholly  because  he  was 
"  moved  with  the  singular  fairenesse  and  bignesse  of  them,"  as 
Laudonniere  imagines,  but  because  his  soul  was  lifted  with  reli- 
gious sentiment — filled  with  worship  at  that  wondrous  temple  of 
nature  in  which  the  great  Jehovah  seemed  visibly  present,  in  love 
and  mercy,  as  in  the  first  sweet  days  of  the  creation. 

To  the  little  river  which  surrounded  the  islet,  on  which  the 
pillar  was  raised,  they  gave  the  name  of  "  Liborne."  The  island 
itself  is  supposed  to  be  that  which  is  now  called  Lemon  Island. 


19 

The  matter  is  one  which  still  admits  of  doubt,  though  scarcely 
beyond  the  reach  of  certainty,  in  a  close  examination  from  the 
guide  posts  which  we  still  possess.  It  is  a  question  which  may 
well  provoke  the  diligence  of  the  local  antiquary.  "  Another  isle, 
not  far  distant  from"  that  of  the  pillar,  next  claimed  the  attention 
of  the  voyagers.  Here  they  "  found  nothing  but  tall  cedars,  the 
fairest  that  were  seene  in  this  country.  For  this  cause  wee  called 
it  the  Isle  of  Cedars." 

This  ended  their  exploration  for  the  day..  A  few  days  were 
consumed  in  farther  researches,  without  leading  to  any  new  dis- 
coveries. In  the  meantime,  Ribault  prepared  to  execute  the 
commands  of  his  sovereign,  in  the  performance  of  one  of  the  tasks 
which  civilization  but  too  frequently  sanctions  at  the  expense  of 
humanity.  He  was  commanded  by  the  Queen-mother  to  capture 
and  carry  home  to  France  a  couple  of. the  natives.  These,  as  we 
have  seen,  were  a  mild  race,  maintaining  among  themselves  a 
gentle  intercourse,  and  exercising  towards  strangers  a  grateful 
hospitality.  It  was  with  a  doubtful  propriety  that  our  Frenchman 
determined  to  separate  any  of  them  from  their  homes  and  people. 
But  it  was  not  for  Ribault  to  question  the  decrees  of  that  sove- 
reign whom  it  was  the  policy  of  the  Huguenots,  at  present,  to 
conciliate.  Having  selected  a  special  and  sufficient  complement 
of  soldiers,  he  determined  "  to  returne  once  againe  toward  the  In- 
dians which  inhabiteth  that  arme  of  the  river  which  runneth  toward 
the  West."  The  pinnace  was  prepared  for  this  purpose.  The 
object  of  the  voyage  was  successful.  The  Indians  were  again  found 
where  they  had  been  at  first  encountered.  The  Frenchmen  were 
received  with  hospitality.  Ribault  made  his  desires  known  to  the 
king  or  chief  of  the  tribe,  who  graciously  gave  his  permission. 
Two  of  the  Indians,  who  fancied  that  they  were  more  favored  than 


20  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  rest  of  their  brethren,  by  the  choice  of  the  Frenchmen,  yielded 
very  readily  to  the  entreaties  which  beguiled  them  on  board  one  of 
the  vessels.  They  probably  misunderstood  the  tenor  of  the  appli- 
cation ;  or,  in  their  savage  simplicity,  concluded  that  a  voyage  to 
the  land  of  the  pale-faces  was  only  some  such  brief  journey  as  they 
were  wont  to  make,  in  their  cypress  canoes,  from  shore  to  shore 
along  their  rivers — or  possibly  as  far  down  as  the  great  frith  in 
which  their  streams  were  lost.  But  it  was  not  long  before  our 
savage  voyagers  were  satisfied  with  the  experiment.  They  soon 
ceased  to  be  pleased  or  flattered  with  the  novelty  of  their  situation 
The  very  attentions  bestowed  upon  them  only  provoked  their  ap- 
prehensions. The  cruise  wearied  them  ;  and,  when  they  found 
that  the  vessels  continued  to  keep  away  from  the  land,  they  be- 
came seriously  uneasy.  Born  swimmers,  they  had  no  fear  about 
making  the  shore  when  once  in  the  water  :  and  it  required  the 
utmost  vigilance  of  the  Frenchmen  to  keep  them  from  darting 
overboard.  It  was  in  vain,  for  a  long  time,  that  they  strove  to 
appease  and  to  soothe  the  unhappy  captives.  Their  detention, 
against  their  desires,  now  made  them  indignant.  Gifts  were 
pressed  upon  them,  such  as  they  were  known  to  crave  and  to  es- 
teem above  all  other  possessions.  But  these  they  rejected  with 
scorn.  They  would  receive  nothing  in  exchange  for  their  liberty. 
The  simple  language  in  which  the  old  chronicler  describes  the 
scene  and  their  sorrows,  has  in  it  much  that  is  highly  touching, 
because  of  its  very  simplicity.  They  felt  their  captivity,  and  were 
not  to  be  beguiled  from  this  humiliating  conviction  by  any  trap- 
pings or  soothings.  Their  freedom — the  privilege  of  eager  move- 
ments through  billow  and  forest — sporting  as  wantonly  as  bird  and 
fish  in  both — was  too  precious  for  any  compensation.  They  sank 
down  upon  the  deck,  with  clasped  hands,  sitting  together  apart 


THE    FIRST    VOYAGE    OF    RIBAULT.  21 

from  the  crew,  gazing  upon  the  shores  with  mournful  eyes,  and 
chaunting  a  melancholy  ditty,  which  seemed  to  the  watchful  and 
listening  Frenchmen  a  strain  of  exile  and  lamentation — "  agreeing 
so  sweetly  together,  that,  in  hearing  their  song,  it  seemed  that  they 
lamented  the  absence  of  their  friendes."  And  thus  they  con- 
tinued all  night  to  sing  without  ceasing 

The  pinnace,  meanwhile,  lay  at  anchor,  the  tide  being  against 
them;  with  the  dawn  of  day  the  voyage  was  resumed,  and  the 
ships  were  reached  in  safety  where  they  lay  in  the  roadstead. 
Transferred  to  these,  the  two  captives  continued  to  deplore  their 
fate.  Every  effort  was  made  to  reconcile  them  to  their  situation, 
and'nothing  was  withheld  which  experience  had  shown  to  be 
especially  grateful  to  the  savage  fancy.  But  they  rejected  every- 
thing ;  even  the  food  which  had  now  become  necessary  to  their 
condition.  They  held  out  till  nearly  sunset,  in  their  rejection  of 
the  courtesies,  which,  with  a  show  of  kindness,  deprived  them  of 
the  most  precious  enjoyment  and  passion  of  their  lives.  But  the 
inferior  nature  at  length  insisted  upon  its  rights.  "  In  the  end 
they  were  constrained  to  forget  their  superstitions,"  and  to  eat 
the  meat  which  was  set  before  them.  They  even  received  the 
gifts  which  they  had  formerly  rejected ;  and,  as  if  reconciled  to  a 
condition  from  which  they  found  it  impossible  to  escape,  they  put 
on  a  more  cheerful  countenance.  "  They  became,  therefore, 
more  jocunde  ;  every  houre  made  us  a  thousand  discourses,  being 
marveillous  sorry  that  we  could  not  understand  them."  Laudon- 
niere  set  himself  to  work  to  acquire  their  language.  He  strove 
still  more  to  conciliate  their  favor  ;  engaged  them  in  frequent  con- 
versation ;  and,  by  showing  them  the  objects  for  which  he  sought 
their  names,  picked  up  numerous  words  which  he  carefully  put  on 
paper.  In  a  few  days  he  was  enabled  to  make  himself  understood 


22  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

by  them,  in  ordinary  matters,  and  to  comprehend  much  that  they 
said  to  him.  They  flattered  him  in  turn.  They  told  him  of 
their  feats  and  sports,  and  what  pleasures  they  could  give  him  in 
the  chase.  They  would  take  food  from  no  hands  but  his  ;  and 
succeeded  in  blinding  the  vigilance  of  the  Frenchmen.  They 
were  not  more  reconciled  to  their  prison-bonds  than  before. 
They  had  simply  changed  their  policy ;  and,  when,  after  several 
days'  detention,  they  had  succeeded  in  lulling  to  sleep  the  sus- 
picions of  their  captors,  they  stole  away  at  midnight  from  the 
ship,  leaving  behind  them  all  the  gifts  which  had  been  forced  upon 
them,  as  if,  to  have  retained  them,  would  have  established,  in  the 
pale-faces,  a  right  to  their  liberties — thus  showing,  according  to 
Laudonniere,  "  that  they  were  not  void  of  reason." 

Kibault  was  not  dissatisfied  with  this  result  of  his-  endeavor  to 
comply  with  the  commands  of  the  Queen-mother.  His  sense  of 
justice  probably  revolted  at  the  proceeding ;  and  the  escape  of 
the  Indians,  who  would  report  only  the  kindness  of  their  treat- 
ment, would,  in  all  likelihood,  have  an  effect  favorable  to  his  main 
enterprise, — the  establishment  of  a  colony.  This  design  he  now 
broached  to  his  people  in  an  elaborate  speech.  He  enlarged  upon 
the  importance  of  the  object,  drawing  numerous  examples  from 
ancient  and  modern  history,  in  favor  of  those  virtues  in  the  in- 
dividual which  such  enterprise  must  develope.  There  is  but  one 
passage  in  this  speech  which  deserves  our  special  attention.  It 
is  that  in  which  he  speaks  to  his  followers  of  their  inferior  birth 
and  condition.  He  speaks  to  them  as  "  known  neither  to  the 
king  nor  to  the  princes  of  the  realme,  and,  besides,  descending 
from  so  poore  a  stock,  that  few  or  none  of  your  parents,  having 
ever  made  profession  of  armes7  have  beene  knowne  unto  the  great 
estates."  This  is  in  seeming  conflict  with  what  Laudonniere  has 


THE    FIRST   VOYAGE   OP   RIBAULT.  23 

already  told  us  touching  the  character  and  condition  in  society  of 
the  persons  employed  in  the  expedition.  He  has  been  careful  to 
say,  at  the  opening  of  the  narrative,  that  the  two  ships  were  "  well 
furnished  with  gentlemen  (of  whose  number  I  was  one)  and  old 
soldiers."*  The  apparent  contradiction  may  be  reconciled  by  a 
reference  to  the  distinction,  which,  until  a  late  period,  was  made 
in  France,  between  the  noblesse  and  mere  gentlemen.  The  word 
gentleman  had  no  such  signification,  in  France,  at  that  period,  as 
it  bears  to-day.  To  apply  it  to  a  nobleman,  indeed,  would  have 
been,  at  one  time,  to  have  given  a  mortal  affront,  and  a  curious 
anecdote  is  on  record,  to  this  effect  in  the  case  of  the  Princess  de 
la  Roche  Sur  Yon,  who,  using  the  epithet  "  gentilhomme"  to  a 
nobleman,  was  insulted  by  him  ;  and,  on  demanding  redress  of 
the  monarch,  was  told  that  she  deserved  the  indignity,  having 
been  guilty  of  the  first  offence. 

But  Ribault's  speech  suggested  to  his  followers  that  their  in- 
ferior condition  made  nothing  against  their  heroism.  He,  himself, 
though  a  soldier  by  profession,  from  his  tenderest  years,  had  never 
yet  been  able  to  compass  the  favor  of  the  nobility.  Yet  he  had 
applied  himself  with  all  industry,  and  hazarded  his  life  in  many 
dangers.  It  was  his  misfortune  that  "  more  regard  is  had  to  birth 
than  virtue."  But  this  need  not  discourage  them,  as  it  has  never 
discouraged  him  from  the  performance  of  his  duties.  The  great 
examples  of  history  are  in  his  eyes,  and  should  be  in  theirs. 

*  Charlevoix  seems  to  afford  a  sufficient  sanction  for  the  claim  of  Lau- 
donniere,  in  behalf  of  the  gentle  blood  among  the  followers  of  Ribault. 
He  says  "  11  avoit  des  esquipages  choisis,  et  plusieurs  volontaries,  parmi 
lesquels  il  y  avoit  qudques  gentilshommes."  And  yet  Ribault  should 
have  known  bettor  than  anybody  else  the  quality  of  his  armament.  Cer- 
tainly, the  good  leaven,  as  the  result  showed,  was  in  too  small  a  propor- 
tion to  leaven  the  whole  colony 


24  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Howe  much  then  ought  so  many  worthy  examples  move  you  to 
plant  here  ?  Considering,  also,  that  hereby  you  shall  be  regis- 
tered forever  as  the  first  that  inhabited  this  strange  country.  I 
pray  you,  therefore,  all  to  advise  yourselves  thereof,  and  to  de- 
clare your  mindes  freely  unto  me,  protesting  that  I  will  so  well 
imprint  your  names  in  the  King's  eares,  and  the  other  princes, 
that  your  renowne  shall  hereafter  shine  unquenchable  through  our 
realm  of  France." 

Kibault  was  evidently  not  insensible  to  fame.  Had  his  thoughts 
been  those  of  his  sovereign,  also,  how  different  would  have  been 
the  history !  His  soldiers  responded  in  the  proper  spirit,  and  de- 
clared their  readiness  to  establish  a  colony  in  the  wild  empire,  the 
grandeur  and  beauty  of  which  had  already  commended  it  to  their 
affections.  Delighted  with  the  readiness  and  enthusiasm  of  his 
men,  he  weighed  anchor  the  very  next  day,  in  order  to  seek  out 
the  place  most  fit  and  convenient  for  his  settlement.  "  Having 
sayled  up  the  great  river  on  the,  north  side,  in  coasting  an  isle 
which  ended  with  a  sharpe  point  toward  the  mouth  of  the  river  ; — 
having  sailed  awhile  he  discovered  a  small  river  which  entered 
into  the  islande,  which  hee  would  not  faile  to  search  out,  which 
done,  he  found  the  same  deep  enough  to  harbour  therein  gallies 
and  galliots  in  good  number.  Proceeding  farther,  he  found  an 
open  place  joyning  upon  the  brinke  thereof,  where  he  went  on  land, 
and  seeing  the  place  Jit  to  build  a  fortresse  in,  and  commodious 
for  them  that  were  willing  to  plant  there,  he  resolved  inconti- 
nently to  cause  the  bignesse  of  the  fortification  to  be  measured 
out."  The  colony  was  to  be  a  small  one.  Twenty-six  persons 
had  volunteered  to  establish  it ;  as  many,  perhaps,  as  had  been 
called  for.  The  dimensions  of  the  fort  were  small  accordingly. 
They  were  taken  by  Laudonniere,  and  one  Captain  Salles,  under 


THE    FIRST    VOYAGE    OF    RIBAULT.  25 

Ribault's  directions.  Tho  fort  was  at  once  begun.  Its  length 
was  sixteen  fathoms,  its  breadth  thirteen,  "  with  flanks  accord- 
ing to  the  proportion  thereof."  Then,  for  the  first  time,  the 
European  axe  was  laid  to  the  great  shafts  of  the  forest  trees  of 
America,  waking  sounds,  at  every  stroke,  whose  echoes  have  been 
heard  for  three  hundred  years,  sounding,  and  destined  to  resound, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  seas  ;  leaving  no  waste  of  wood 
and  wild,  unawakened  by  this  first  music  of  civilization. 

The  site  thus  chosen  by  Eibault  for  his  colony,  though  no 
traces  have  been  left  of  the  labor  of  his  hands,  is  scarcely 
doubtful  to  the  present  possessors  of  the  country.  All  the  proofs 
concur  in  placing  Fort  Charles  somewhere  between  North  Edisto 
and  Broad  River,  and  circumstances  determine  this  situation  to 
be  that  of  the  beautiful  little  town  of  Beaufort,  in  South  Carolina. 
The  Grande  Riviere  of  the  French  is  our  Broad  River.*  It  was 
at  the  mouth  of  this  river,  in  an  island  with  a  safe  and  com- 
modious port,  that  the  fort  was  established  ;  and  of  the  numerous 
islands  which  rise  everywhere  along  the  coast  in  this  region,  as  a 
fortress  to  defend  the  verdant  shores  from  the  assaults  of  ocean, 
there  is  none  which  answers  so  well  as  this  all  the  requisitions  of 
this  description.  Besides,  it  is  actually  in  the  very  latitude  of 
the  site,  as  given  by  Laudonniere;  and  the  tradition  of  the 
Indians,  as  preserved  by  our  own  people,  seems  to  confirm  and  to 
conclude  the  conjectures  on  this  subject.  They  state  that  the 
first  place  in  which  they  saw  the  pale  faces  of  the  Europeans 

*  Charlevoix,  in  his  "  Pastes  Chronologiques,"  preparatory  to  his  work 
on  New  France,  locates  Charles  Fort,  under  Ribault,  "  near  to  the  site  of 
the  present  city  of  Charleston.  In  his  "  Histoire  Generale,"  and  in  the 
map  which  illustrates  this  narrative,  however,  he  concurs  in  the  statement 
of  the  text.  He  also  names  the  North  Edisto  the  St.  Croix. 
2 


26  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

was  at  Coosawhatchie,  in  South  Carolina.  Now,the  Coosawhatehie 
is  the  principal  stream  that  forms  the  Grande  Riviere  of  the 
Frenchmen ;  and  was,  questionless,  the  first  of  the  streams  that 
was  penetrated  by  the  pinnace  of  Ribault.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  it  bore  the  name  of  Coosawhatehie  through  its  entire  course, 
until  it  emptied  itself  into  the  ocean.  The  testimony  of  the 
Indians,  based  simply  upon  their  tradition,  is  of  quite  as  much 
value  as  that  of  any  other  people.  It  is  well  known  with  what 
tenacity  they  preserve  the  recollection  of  important  events,  and 
with  what  singular  adherence  to  general  truthfulness.  The  island 
upon  which  Beaufort  now  stands  was  most  probably  that  which 
yielded  the  first  American  asylum  to  the  Huguenots  of  France  ! 

Our  Frenchmen  travailed  so  diligently  that,  in  a  short  space, 
the  fortress  was  in  some  sort  prepared  for  the  colonists.  It  was 
soon  in  a  defensible  condition.  "  Victuals  and*warlike  munition  " 
were  transferred  from  the  shipping  to  the  shore,  and  the  garrison 
were  furnished  with  all  things  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of 
their  fortress  and  themselves.  The  fort  was  christened  by  the 
name  of  Charles,  the  King  of  France  ;  while  the  small  river  upon 
which  it  was  built  received  the  name  of  Chenonceau.  All  things 
being  provided,  the  colonists  marched  into  their  little  and  lovely 
place  of  refuge.  They  were  confided  to  the  charge  of  one 
Captain  Albert,  to  whom,  and  to  whose  followers,  Ribault  made 
a  speech  at  parting.  His  injunctions  were  of  a  parental  and 
salutary  character.  He  exhorted  their  Captain  to  justice, 
firmness  and  moderation  in  his  rule,  and  his  people  to  obedience  ; 
promising  to  return  with  supplies  from  France,  and  reinforce- 
ments before  their  present  resources  should  fail  them.  But  these 
exhortations  do  not  seem  to  have  been  much  regarded  by  either 
party.  It  will  be  for  us,  in  future  chapters,  to  pursue  their 


THE    FIRST    VOYAGE    OF    RIBAULT.  27 

fortunes,  and  to  pluck,  if  possible,  from  the  unwritten  history, 
the  detailed  events  of  their  melancholy  destiny.  Sad  enough 
will  it  have  been,  even  if  no  positive  evil  shall  befall  them, — 
that  severance  from  their  ancient  comrades — that  separation 
from  the  old  homes  of  their  fathers  in  La  Belle  France — that 
lonesome  abode,  on  the  verge  of  "  ocean's  gray  and  melancholy 
waste,"  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  dense,  dark,  repelling  forests 
of  Apalachia  on  the  other ; — doubtful  of  all  they  see, — in  spite  of 
all  that  is  fresh  and  charming  in  their  sight ; — apprehensive  of 
every  sound  that  reaches  them  from  the  wilderness, — and  filled 
with  no  better  hope  than  that  which  springs  up  in  the  human 
bosom  when  assured  that  all  hope  is  cut  off — that  one  hope 
excepted,  which  is  born  of  necessity,  and  which  blossoms  amid  the 
nettles  of  despair.  The  isolation  was  the  more  oppressive  and 
likely  to  be  grievous,  as  we  have  reason  to  doubt  that,  though 
founding  a  colony  for  the  refuge  of  a  religious  and  persecuted 
people,  they  brought  any  becoming  sense  of  religion  with  them 
Our  progress  thus  far  with  the  adventurers  has  shown  us  but  fe\t 
proofs  of  the  presence  among  them  of  any  feelings  of  devotion 
Ribault  himself  was  but  a  soldier,  and  his  ambition  was  of  an 
earthly  complexion.  Had  they  been  elevated  duly  by  religion ^ 
they  would  have  been  counselled  and  strengthened  in  the  solitude 
by  God.  Unhappily,  they  were  men  only,  rude,  untaught,  and 
full  of  selfish  passions, — badly  ruled  and  often  ill-treated,  and 
probably  giving  frequent  provocation  to  the  pride  and  passions  of 
those  who  had  them  under  rule.  But  they  began  their  career  in 
the  New  World  with  sufficient  cheerfulness.  Its  climate  was 
delicious,  like  that  of  their  own  country.  Its  woods  and  forests 
were  of  a  majesty  and  splendor  beyond  any  of  which  their  wildest 
fancies  had  ever  dreamed  ;  and  the  security  which  the  remoteness 


28  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

of  the  region  promised  them,  and  the  novelty  which  invested 
every  object  in  their  eyes  made  the  parting  from  their  comrades 
a  tolerably  easy  one.  They  heard  with  lively  spirits  the  farewell 
shouts  of  their  companions,  and  answered  them  with  cheers  of 
confidence  and  pride.  The  simple  paragraph  which  records  the 
leave-taking  of  the  parties,  is  at  once  pleasing  and  full  of  pathos. 
"  Having  ended  his  (Ribault's)  exhortations,  we  took  our  leaves 
of  each  of  them,  and  sayled  toward  our  shippes.  We  hoysed  our 
sayles  about  ten  of  the  clocke  in  the  morning.  After  wee  were 
ready  to  depart,  Captain  Ribault  commanded  to  shoote  off  our 
ordnance,  to  give  a  farewell  unto  our  Frenchmen  ;  which  fayled 
not  to  do  the  like  on  their  part.  This  being  done,  wee  sayled 
toward  the  north."  That  last  shout,  that  last  sullen  roar  of 
their  mutual  cannon,  and  the  great  waves  of  the  Atlantic  rolled, 
unbroken  by  a  sail,  between  our  colonists  and  La,  Belle  France. 


II. 


THE  COLONY  UNDER  ALBERT. 

THE  Colonists,  thus  abandoned  by  their  countrymen,  proceeded 
to  make  themselves  secure  in  their  forest  habitations.  Day  and 
night  did  they  address  themselves  to  the  completion  of  their  for- 
tress. They  have  seen  none  of  the  natives  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  spot  in  which  they  had  pitched  their  tents ; 
but,  aware  of  the  wandering  habits  of  the  red-men,  they  might 
naturally  look  for  them  at  any  moment.  Their  toils,  quickened 
by  their  caution,  enabled  them  to  make  rapid  progress.  While 
they  labored,  they  felt  nothing  of  their  loneliness.  The  employ- 
ments which  accompanied  their  situation,  and  flowed  from  its  ne- 
cessities, might  be  said  to  exercise  their  fancies,  and  to  subdue 
the  tendency  to  melancholy  which  might  naturally  grow  out  of 
their  isolation.  Besides,  the  very  novelty  of  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  found  themselves  had  its  attractions,  particularly 
to  a  people  so  lively  as  the  French.  Our  Huguenots,  at  the  out- 
set, were  very  sensible  to  the  picturesque  beauties  of  their 
forest  habitation.  For  a  season,  bird,  and  beast,  and  tree,  and 
flower,  presented  themselves  to  their  delighted  eyes,  in  gufses  of 
constantly-varying  attraction.  The  solitude,  itself,  possessed  its 
charm,  most  fascinating  of  all, — until  it  became  monotonous — 


30  THE    LILY    ANr    THE    TOTEM. 

to  those  who  had  been  little  favored  of  fortune  in  the  crowded 
world  of  civilization ;  and,  with  the  feeling  of  a  first  freshness  in 
their  hearts,  and,  while  in  the  performance  of  duties  which  were 
equally  necessary  to  their  safety,  and  new  to  their  experience,  the 
whole  prospect  before  them  was  beheld  through  that  rose-colored 
atmosphere  which  the  fancy  so  readily  flings  before  the  mind, 
beguiling  the  soberer  thought  into  forgetfulness.  During  this 
period  they  toiled  successfully  upon  their  fortifications.  They 
raised  the  parapet,  they  mounted  the  cannon  for  defence ;  built 
rude  dwellings  within  the  walls,  and  in  their  boundless  contiguity 
of  shade,  with  the  feeling  that  they  were  in  some  sort  "  monarchs 
of  all  they  beheld  ;"  they  felt  neither  loneliness  nor  fear. 

Their  homes  built,  their  fortifications  complete,  they  proceeded, 
in  small  detachments  to  explore  the  neighboring  streams  and 
woods.  They  had,  so  far,  finished  all  their  tasks  without  meeting 
with  the  natives.  They  did  not  shrink  from  this  meeting.  They 
now  desired  it  from  motives  of  policy.  They  had  no  reason  to 
believe,  from  the  specimens  of  the  red-men  whom  they  had  already 
encountered,  that  they  should  have  any  difficulty  in  soothing  any 
of  the  tribes ;  and  they  were  justified  in  supposing  that  the  im- 
pression already  made  upon  those  whom  they  met,  would  operate 
favorably  upon  their  future  intercourse.  Boldly,  then,  our 
Frenchmen  darted  into  the  adjacent  forests,  gathering  their  game 
and  provisions  in  the  same  grounds  with  the  proprietors.  But 
the  latter  were  never  to  be  seen.  They  were  shy  of  the  strangers, 
or  they  had  not  yet  discovered  their  settlement.  One  day,  how- 
ever, a  fortunate  chance  enabled  a  party  of  the  Huguenots  to  dis- 
cover, and  to  circumvent  an  Indian  hunter,  upon  whom  they  came 
suddenly  in  the  forests.  At  first  the  poor  fellow  was  exceedingly 
dismayed  at  the  encounter ;  but,  subduing  his  fears,  he  submitted 


THE  COLONY  UNDER  ALBERT.  31 

with  a  good  grace  to  the  wishes  of  his  captors,  and  was  conducted 
to  the  fortress.  Hera  he  was  treated  with  consideration,  and 
made  happy  by  several  trifles  which  were  given  him.  His  con- 
fidence was  finally  won,  and  his  mouth  was  opened.  He  became 
communicative,  and  described  his  people  and  their  territories. 
He  avowed  himself  the  subject  of  a  great  monarch,  whom  he 
called  Audusta,* — a  name,  in  which,  under  the  corruptions  of  a 
French  pronunciation,  we  recognize  the  well-known  modern  name 
of  Edisto.  He  described  the  boundaries  of  empire  belonging  to 
this  forest  chieftain ;  and  gave  a  general  and  not  incorrect  idea  of 
the  whole  surrounding  country. 

Captain  Albert  was  exceedingly  delighted  with  his  acquisition. 
It  was  important  that  he  should  open  an  intercourse  with  the  na- 
tives, to  whose  maize-fields  and  supplies  of  venison  his  necessities 
required  he  should  look.  He  treated  the  hunter  with  liberality 
and  courtesy,  dismissing  him  at  night-fall  with  many  presents,  of 
a  kind  most  grateful  to  the  savage  taste.  These  hospitalities  and 
gifts,  it  was  not  doubted,  would  pave  the  way  for  an  intercourse 
equally  profitable  and  pleasant  to  both  the  parties.  Suffering  a 
few  days  to  elapse  after  the  departure  of  the  hunter,  Albert  pre- 
pared to  follow  his  directions,  and  explore  the  settlements  of  King 
Audusta.  He  did  so,  and  was  received  with  great  kindness  by 
the  stately  savage.  The  Indian  hunter  had  made  a  favorable  re- 
port of  the  Frenchmen,  and  Audusta  adopted  them  as  his  friends 
and  allies.  He  promised  them  provisions  and  assistance,  and  the 

*  The  name  in  Charlevoix  is  written  Amlusta,  but  this  is  moat  probably 
an  error  of  the  press.  Laudonniere  in  Hackluyt  uniformly  uses  the  or- 
thography which  we  adopt,  and  which  furnishes  a  coincidence  so  really 
striking  in  the  preservation  of  a  name  so  nearly  the  same  in  sound,  to  thii 
very  day,  in  the  same  region. 


32  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

friendship  of  four  other  chiefs  or  princes,  his  tributaries,  whose 
names  are  given  as  Mayou,  Hoya,  Touppa,  and  Stalame.*  These 
were  all,  in  turn, — except  the  last, — visited  by  Albert,  who  found 
a  frank  and  generous  welcome  wherever  he  came.  He  consumed 
several  days  in  these  visits  ;  and  the  intercourse,  in  a  little  while, 
between  the  French  and  red-men,  grew  so  great,  "  that,  in  a  man- 
ner, all  things  were  soon  common  between  them."  Returning  to 
Audusta,  Albert  prepared  to  visit  Stalame,  whose  country  lay 
north  of  Fort  Charles  some  fifteen  leagues.  This  would  make 
his  abode  somewhere  on  the  Edisto,  near  Givham's,  perhaps  ;  or, 
inclining  still  north,  to  the  head  of  Ashley  River.  Sailing  up  the 
river,  (the  Edisto  probably,)  they  encountered  a  great  current, 
which  they  followed,  to  reach  the  abode  of  Stalame.  He,  too,  re- 
ceived the  strangers  with  hospitality  and  friendship.  The  inter- 
course thus  established  between  the  party  soon  assumed  the  most 
endearing  aspect.  The  Indian  kings  took  counsel  of  Albert  in  all 
matters  of  importance.  The  Frenchmen  were  called  to  the  con- 
ference in  the  round-house  of  the  tribe,  quite  as  frequently  as  their 
own  recognized  counsellors.  In  other  words,  the  leaders  of  the 
Huguenots  were  adopted  into  the  tribe,  that  being  the  usual  mode 
of  indicating  trust  and  confidence.  Albert  was  present  at  all  the 
assemblages  of  state  in  the  realm  of  Audusta  ;  at  all  ceremonials, 
whether  of  business  or  pleasure  ;  at  his  great  hunts  ;  and  at  the 

*  A  remark  of  Charlevoix,  which  accords  with  the  experience  of  all 
early  travellers  and  explorers  among  the  American  Indians,  is  worthy  to  be 
kept  in  remembrance,  as  enabling  us  to  account  for  that  frequent  contra- 
diction which  occurs  in  the  naming  of  places  and  persons  among  the  savages. 
He  records  distinctly  that  each  canton  or  province  of  Florida  bore,  among 
the  red-men,  the  name  of  the  ruling  chief.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  course  where 
the  tribes  are  nomadic,  the  names  of  places  continually  underwent  change, 
according  to  that  of  the  tribe  by  which  the  spot  was  temporarily  occupied, 


THE    COLONY    UNDER    ALBERT.  33 

singular  feasts  of  his  religion.  One  of  these  feasts,  that  of  TOYA,* 
which  succeeded  the  visit  of  Albert  to  the  territories  of  Audusta 
and  the  four  tributary  kings,  will  call  for  an  elaborate  description 
hereafter,  when  we  narrate  the  legend  of  Guernache,  upon  whose 
fate  that  of  the  colony  seems  to  have  depended. 

The  intercourse  of  our  Huguenots  with  Audusta  was  of  vital 
importance  to  the  former.  In  the  form  of  gifts,  he  yielded  them 
a  regular  tribute  of  maize  and  beans,  (corn  and  peas,  in  modern 
parlance,)  and  was  easily  persuaded  to  do  so  by  the  simple  trifles, 
of  little  value,  which  the  colonists  proffered  in  return.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  win  the  affections  of  an  inferior  people,  where  the  su- 
perior is  indulgent.  Kindness  will  disarm  the  hostility  of  the 
savage,  and  justice  will  finally  subdue  the  jealousy  of  conscious  ig- 
norance. Sympathy  in  sports  and  amusements,  above  all  things, 
will  do  much  towards  bringing  together  tribes  who  differ  in  their 
laws  and  language,  and  will  make  them  forgetful  of  all  their  dif- 
ferences. The  French  have  been  usually  much  more  successful 
than  any  other  people  in  overcoming  the  prejudices  of  the  red-men 
of  America.  The  moral  of  their  nation  is  much  more  flexible  than 
that  of  the  Englishman  and  Spaniard  ; — the  former  of  whom  has 
always  subdued,  and  the  latter  usually  debased  or  destroyed,  the 
races  with  which  they  came  in  conflict. 

The  policy  of  Albert  did  not  vary  from  that  which  usually  dis- 
tinguished his  countrymen  in  like  situations.  The  French  Pro- 
testant was,  by  no  means,  of  the  faith  and  temper  of  the  English 
Puritan.  In  simplifying  his  religion,  he  did  not  clothe  his  exterior 
in  gloom ;  he  did  not  deny  that  there  should  be  sunshine  and 

*  According  to  Charlevoix,  Toya  was  the  name  of  the  Floridian  god, 
and  not  that  of  the  ceremonies  simply.    "  Elle  se  celebroit  en  1'honneur 
(Tune  Divinite  nommee  Toya." 
2* 


34  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

blossoms  in  the  land.  Our  colonists  at  Fort  Charles  did  not  per 
plex  the  Indians  with  doctrinal  questions.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
feared,  indeed,  that  religion  did  not,  in  any  way,  disturb  them  in 
their  solitudes.  At  all  events,  it  was  not  of  such  a  freezing  tem- 
per as  to  deny  them  the  indulgence  of  an  intercourse  with  the 
natives,  which,  for  a  season,  was  very  agreeable  and  very  inspiriting 
to  both  the  parties. 

But  smiles  and  sunshine  cannot  last  forever.  The  granaries 
of  the  Indians  began  to  fail  under  their  own  profligacy  and  the 
demands  of  the  Frenchmen.  The  resources  of  the  former,  never 
abundant,  were  soon  exhausted  in  providing  for  the  additional 
hungry  mouths  which  had  come  among  them.  Shrinking  from 
labor,  they  addressed  as  little  of  it  as  they  well  could,  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  their  petty  maize  fields.  They  planted  them,  as  we  do 
now,  a  couple  of  grains  of  corn  to  each  hill,  at  intervals  of  three 
or  four  square  feet,  and  as  the  corn  grew  to  a  sufficient  height, 
peas  were  distributed  among  the  roots,  to  twine  about  the  stalks 
when  the  vines  could  no  longer  impair  its  growth.  They  cropped 
the  same  land  twice  in  each  summer.  The  supplies,  thus  procured, 
would  have  been  totally  inadequate  to  their  wants,  but  for  the 
abundant  game,  the  masts  of  the  forest,  and  such  harsh  but 
wholesome  roots  as  they  could  pulverize  and  convert  into  bread- 
stuffs.  Their  store  was  thus  limited  always,  and  adapted  to  their 
own  wants  simply.  Any  additional  demand,  however  small,  pro- 
duced a  scarcity  in  their  granaries.  The  improvidence  of  Au- 
dusta,  or  his  liberality,  prevented  him  from  considering  this  dan- 
ger, until  it  began  to  be  felt.  He  had  supplied  the  Frenchmen 
until  his  stock  was  exhausted  ;  no  more  being  left  in  his  posses- 
sion than  would  suffice  to  sow  his  fields. 
"  For  this  reason," — such  was  the  language  of  the  sayage  mo» 


THE  COLONY  UNDER  ALBERT.  35 

narch — "  we  must  retire  to  the  forests,  and  live  upon  its  mast  and 
roots,  until  harvest  time.  We  are  sorry  that  we  can  supply  you 
no  longer ;  you  must  now  seek  the  granaries  of  our  neighbors. 
There  is  a  king  called  COUEXIS,  a  prince  of  great  might  and  re- 
nown in  this  country,  whose  province  lies  toward  the  south.  His 
lands  are  very  fertile.  His  stores  are  ample  at  all  seasons.  He 
alone  can  furnish  you  with  food  for  a  long  time.  Before  you  ap- 
proach the  territories  of  Couexis,  there  is  his  brother,  king  Ouade, 
who  is  scarcely  less  wealthy.  He  is  a  generous  chief,  who  will  be 
very  joyful  if  he  may  but  once  behold  you.  Seek  out  these,  and 
your  wants  shall  be  supplied." 

The  advice  was  taken.  The  Frenchmen  had  no  alternative. 
They  addressed  themselves  first  to  Ouade.  His  territories  lay 
along  the  river  Belle,  some  twenty-five  leagues  south  of  Port 
Eoyal.  He  received  them  with  the  greatest  favor  and  filled  their 
pinnace  with  maize  and  beans.  He  welcomed  them  to  his  abode 
with  equal  state  and  hospitality.  His  house  is  described  as  being 
hung  with  a  tapestry  richly  wrought  of  feathers.  The  couch 
upon  which  he  slept,  was  dressed  with  "  white  coverlettes,  em- 
broidered with  devises  of  very  wittie  and  fine  workmanship,  and 
fringed  round  about  with  a  fringe  dyed  in  the  colour  of  scarlet." 
His  gifts  to  our  Frenchmen  were  not  limited  to  the  commodities 
they  craved.  He  gave  them  six  coverlets,  and  tapestry  such  as 
decorated  his  couch  and  dwelling ;  specimens  of  a  domestic 
manufacture  which  declare  for  tastes  and  a  degree  of  art  which 
seems,  in  some  degree,  to  prove  their  intimacy  with  the  more 
polished  and  powerful  nations  of  the  south.  In  regard  to  food 
hereafter,  king  Ouade  promised  that  his  new  acquaintance  should 
never  want. 

Thus  was  the  first  intercourse  maintained  by  our  Huguenota 


36  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM 

with  their  savage  neighbors.  It  was  during  this  intimacy,  and 
while  all  things  seemed  to  promise  fair  in  regard  to  the  colony, 
that  the  tragical  events  took  place  which  furnish  the  materials  for 
the  legend  which  follows,  the  narrative  of  which  requires  that  we 
should  mingle  events  together,  those  which  occurred  in  the  pe- 
riods already  noted,  and  those  which  belong  to  our  future  chap- 
ters. Let  it  suffice,  here,  that,  with  his  pinnace  stored  with 
abundance,  the  mil  (meal),  corn  and  peas,  of  Ouade,  Albert  re- 
turned in  safety  to  Fort  Charles. 


III. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE.— CHAP.  I. 

Showing  how  Guernache,  the  Musician,  a  great  favorite  with  our  Frenchmen,  lost  the 
favor  of  Captain  Albert,  and  how  cruelly  he  was  punished  by  the  latter. 

GUERNACHE,  the  drummer,  was  one  of  the  finest  fellows, 
and  the  handsomest  of  our  little  colony  of  Frenchmen.  Though 
sprung  of  very  humble  origin,  Guernache,  with  a  little  better 
education,  might  have  been  deemed  to  have  had  his  training 
among  the  highest  circles  of  the  Court.  He  was  of  tall  and 
erect  figure,  and  of  a  carriage  so  noble  and  graceful  that,  even 
among  his  associates,  he  continued  to  be  an  object  of  admiration 
Besides,  he  was  a  fellow  of  the  happiest  humor.  His  kindness  of 
heart  was  proverbial.  His  merriment  was  contagious.  His  eye 
flashed  out  in  gayety,  and  his  spirit  was  ever  on  the  alert  to 
seize  upon  the  passing  pleasure,  and  subject  it  to  the  enjoyment 
of  his  companions.  Never  was  fellow  so  fortunate  in  finding 
occasion  for  merriment ;  and  happy,  indeed,  was  the  Frenchman 
who  could  procure  Guernache  as  a  comrade  in  the  performance 
of  his  daily  tasks.  The  toil  was  unfelt  in  which  he  shared — the 
weight  of  the  task  was  dissipated,  and,  where  it  wore  heavily,  he 
came  to  the  succor  of  his  drooping  companion,  and  his  superior 
expertness  soon  succeeded  in  doing  that  which  his  pleasantry  had 


38  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

failed  to  effect.  He  was  the  best  fisherman  and  hunter— was  as 
brave  as  he  was  light-hearted — was,  altogether,  so  perfect  a 
character,  in  the  estimation  of  the  little  band  of  Albert,  that  he 
found  no  enemy  among  his  equals,  and  could  always  choose  his 
companion  for  himself.  His  successes  were  not  confined  to  his 
own  countrymen.  He  found  equal  favor  in  the  sight  of  the 
Indians.  Among  his  other  accomplishments,  he  possessed  the 
most  wonderful  agility — had  belonged,  at  one  time,  to  a  company 
of  strolling  players,  and  his  skill  on  tight  and  slack  rope — if  we 
are  to  credit  old  stories — would  put  to  the  blush  the  modern 
performances  of  the  Ravels  and  Herr  Cline.  It  was  through  his 
means,  and  partly  by  his  ingenuity,  that  the  Indian  hunter  was 
entrapped  and  brought  into  the  fort, — through  whose  agency  the 
intimacy  had  been  effected  with  the  people  of  Audusta  and  the 
other  chiefs  ;  and,  during  this  intimacy,  Gruernache  had  proved, 
in  various  ways,  one  of  the  principal  instruments  for  confirming 
the  favorable  impressions  which  the  Indian  had  received  in  his  in- 
tercourse with  the  Frenchmen.  He  was  everywhere  popular  with 
the  red  men.  Nothing,  indeed,  could  be  done  without  him. 
Ignorant  of  his  inferior  social  position  among  the  whites,  the 
simple  savages  sent  for  him  to  their  feasts  and  frolics,  without 
caring  for  the  claims  of  any  other  person.  He  had  but  to  carry 
his  violin — for,  among  his  other  accomplishments,  that  of  fiddling 
was  not  the  smallest — to  secure  the  smiles  of  the  men  and  the 
favors  of  the  women  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  formed, 
among  the  savages,  a  class  for  dancing,  after  the  European 
fashion,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Edisto.  Think  of  the  red  men 
of  Apalachia,  figuring  under  a  Parisian  teacher,  by  night,  by 
torch-light,  beneath  the  great  oaks  of  the  original  forest ! 
Such  uncouth  antics  might  well  offend,  with  never-lessening 


THE   LEGEND    OF   GUERNACHE.  39 

wonder,  the  courtly  nymphs  of  the  Seine  and  the  Loire.  But 
the  Indians  suffered  from  no  conventional  apprehensions.  They 
were  not  made  to  feel  their  deficiencies  under  the  indulgent 
training  of  Guernache,  and  footed  it  away  as  merrily,  as  if  each 
of  their  damsels  sported  on  a  toe  as  light  and  exquisite  as  that  of 
Ellsler  or  Taglioni.  King  Audusta,  himself,  though  well  stricken 
in  years,  was  yet  seduced  into  the  capricious  mazes  which  he 
beheld  with  so  much  pleasure,  and,  for  a  season,  the  triumph  of 
Guernache  among  the  palms  and  pines  of  Grande  Riviere,  was 
sufficiently  complete,  to  make  him  wonder  at  times  how  his 
countrymen  ever  suffered  his  departure  from  the  shores  of  La 
Belle  France  ! 

At  first,  and  when  it  was  doubtful  to  what  extent  the  favor  of 
the  red-men  might  be  secured  for  the  colony,  Captain  Albert 
readily  countenanced  the  growing  popularity  of  his  fiddler  among 
them.  His  permission  was  frequently  given  to  Guernache,  when 
king  Audusta  solicited  his  presence.  His  policy  prompted  him 
to  regard  it  as  highly  fortunate  that  so  excellent  an  agent  for  his 
purposes  was  to  be  found  among  his  followers  ;  and,  for  some 
months,  it  needed  only  a  suggestion  of  Guernache,  himself,  to 
procure  for  him  leave  of  absence.  The  worthy  fellow  never 
abused  his  privileges — never  was  unfaithful  to  his  trust — never 
grew  insolent  upon  indulgence.  But  Captain  Albert,  though 
claiming  to  be  the  cadet  of  a  noble  house,  was  yet  a  person  of  a 
mean  and  ignoble  nature.  Small  and  unimposing  of  person, 
effeminate  of  habit,  and  accustomed  to  low  indulgences,  he  was 
not  only  deficient  in  the  higher  resources  of  intellect,  but  he  was 
exceedingly  querulous  and  tyrannical  of  temper.  His  aristo- 
cratical  connexions  alone  had  secured  him  the  charge  of  the 
colony,  for  which  nature  and  education  had  equally  unfitted  him. 


40  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

His  mind  was  contracted  and  full  of  bitter  prejudices ;  and, 
as  is  the  case  commonly  with  very  small  persons,  he  was  al- 
ways tenacious,  to  the  very  letter,  of  the  nicest  observances  of 
etiquette  After  a  little  while,  and  when  he  no  longer  had  reason 
to  question  the  fidelity  of  the  red  men,  he  began  to  exhibit  some 
share  of  dislike  towards  Guernache  ;  and  to  withhold  the  privi- 
leges which  he  had  hitherto  permitted  him  to  enjoy.  He  had  be- 
come jealous  of  the  degree  of  favor  in  which  his  musician  was 
held  among  the  savages,  and  betrayed  this  change  in  his  temper, 
by  instances  of  occasional  severity  and  denial,  the  secret  of  which 
the  companions  of  Guernache  divined  much  sooner  than  himself. 
Though  not  prepared,  absolutely,  to  withhold  his  consent,  when 
king  Audusta  entreated  that  the  fiddler  might  be  spared  him,  he 
yet  accorded  it  ungraciously ;  and  Guernache  was  made  to  suffer, 
in  some  way,  for  these  concessions,  as  if  they  had  been  so  many 
favors  granted  to  himself. 

They  were,  indeed,  favors  to  the  musician,  though,  to  what  ex- 
tent, Albert  entertained  no  suspicion.  It  so  happened  that  among 
his  other  conquests,  Guernache  had  made  that  of  a  very  lovely 
dark-eyed  damsel,  a  niece  of  Audusta,  and  a  resident  of  the  king's 
own  village.  After  the  informal  fashion  of  the  country,  into 
which  our  Frenchmen  were  apt  readily  to  fall,  he  had  made  the 
damsel  his  wife.  She  was  a  beautiful  creature,  scarcely  more 
than  sixteen ;  tall  and  slender,  and  so  naturally  agile  and  grace- 
ful, that  it  needed  but  a  moderate  degree  of  instruction  to  make 
her  a  dancer  whose  airy  movements  would  not  greatly  have  mis- 
beseemed  the  most  courtly  theatres  of  Paris.  Monaletta, — for 
such  was  the  sweet  name  of  the  Indian  damsel, — was  an  apt  pupil, 
because  she  was  a  loving  one.  She  heartily  responded  to  that 
sentiment  Of  wonder — common  among  the  savages — that  the 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  41 

Frenchmen  should  place  themselves  under  the  command  of  a 
chief,  so  mean  of  person  as  Albert,  and  so  inferior  in  gifts,  when 
they  had  among  them  a  fellow  of  such  noble  presence  as  Guer- 
nache,  whose  qualities  were  so  irresistible.  The  opinions  of  her 
head  were  but  echoes  from  the  feelings  in  her  heart.  Her  pre- 
ference for  our  musician  was  soon  apparent  and  avowed ;  but,  in 
taking  her  to  wife,  Guernache  kept  his  secret  from  his  best  friend. 
No  one  in  Fort  Charles  ever  suspected  that  he  had  been  wived  in 
the  depth  of  the  great  forests,  through  pagan  ceremonies,  by  an 
Indian  lawa,*  to  the  lovely  Monaletta.  Whatever  may  have  been 
his  motive  for  keeping  the  secret,  whether  he  feared  the  ridicule 
of  his  comrades,  or  the  hostility  of  his  superior,  or  apprehended  a 
difficulty  with  rivals  among  the  red  men,  by  a  discovery  of  the 
fact,  it  is  yet  very  certain  that  he  succeeded  in  persuading  Mona- 
letta, herself,  and  those  who  were  present  at  his  wild  betrothal,  to 
keep  the  secret  also.  It  did  not  lessen,  perhaps,  the  pleasure  of 
his  visits  to  the  settlements  of  Audusta,  that  the  peculiar  joys 
which  he  desired  had  all  the  relish  of  a  stolen  fruit.  It  was  now, 
only  in  this  manner  that  Monaletta  could  be  seen.  Captain  Al- 
bert, with  a  rigid  austerity,  which  contributed  also  to  his  evil  odor 
among  his  people,  had  interdicted  the  visits  of  all  Indian  women 
at  the  fort.  This  interdict  was  one,  however,  which  gave  little 
annoyance  to  Guernache.  A  peculiar,  but  not  unnatural  jealousy, 
had  already  prompted  him  repeatedly  to  deny  this  privilege  to 
Monaletta.  The  simple  savage  had  frequently  expressed  her  de- 
sire to  see  the  fortress  of  the  white  man,  to  behold  his  foreign 
curiosities,  and,  in  particular,  to  hearken  to  the  roar  of  that 

*  lawa  was  the  title  of  the  priest  or  prophet  of  the  Floridian.  The 
word  is  thus  written  by  Laudonniere  in  Hakluyt.  It  is  probably  a  mis- 
print only  which,  in  Charlevoix,  writes  it  "  lona." 


42  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

mimic  thunder  which  he  had  always  at  command,  and  which, 
when  heard,  had  so  frequently  shaken  the  very  hearts  of  the  men 
of  her  people. 

In  this  relation  stood  the  several  parties,  when,  one  day,  a  mes- 
senger came  to  Fort  Charles  from  King  Audusta,  bearing  a  special 
invitation  to  Captain  Albert  to  attend,  with  the  savage  tribes,  the 
celebration  of  the  great  religious  "feast  of  Toya."  He  was  in- 
vited to  bring  as  many  of  his  men  as  he  thought  proper,  but,  in 
particular,  not  to  forget  their  favorite  Guernache.  The  feast  of 
Toya,  seems  to  have  constituted  the  great  religious  ceremonial  of 
the  nation.  It  took  place  about  the  middle,  or  the  close  of  sum- 
mer, and  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  annual  thanksgiving,  after 
the  laws  of  a  natural  religion,  for  the  maturing  of  their  little  crops. 
Much  of  the  solemnities  were  obvious  and  ostentatious  in  their 
character.  Much  more,  however,  was  involved  and  mysterious, 
and  held  particularly  sacred  by  the  priesthood.  The  occasion 
was  one,  at  all  events,  to  which  the  Indians  attached  the  greatest 
importance  ;  and,  naturally  anxious  to  acquire  as  great  a  know- 
ledge as  possible  of  their  laws,  customs  and  sentiments,  Captain 
Albert  very  readily  acceded  to  the  invitation, — preparing,  with 
some  state,  to  attend  the  rustic  revels  of  Audusta.  He  took  with 
him  a  fair  proportion  of  his  little  garrison,  and  did  not  omit  the 
inimitable  Gruernache.  Ascending  the  river  in  his  pinnace,  he 
soon  reached  the  territories  of  the  Indian  monarch.  Audusta, 
with  equal  hospitality  and  dignity,  anticipated  his  approach,  and 
met  him,  with  his  followers,  at  the  river  landing.  With  a  hearty 
welcome,  he  conducted  him  to  his  habitations,  and  gave  him,  at 
entrance,  a  draught  of  the  cassina  beverage,  the  famous  tea  of  the 
country.  Then  came  damsels  who  washed  their  hands  in  vessels 
of  water  over  which  floated  the  leaves  of  the  odorous  bay,  and 


THE    LEGEND    OP    GUERNACHE.  43 

flowers  of  rare  perfume ;  drying  them  after  with  branches  of 
plumes,  scarlet  and  white,  which  were  made  of  the  feathers  of 
native  birds  of  the  most  glorious  variety  of  hue.  Mats  of  reed, 
woven  ingeniously  together  by  delicate  wythes  of  all  colors,  orange 
and  green,  and  vermillion,  dyed  with  roots  of  the  forest,  were  then 
spread  upon  the  rush-strewn  floor  of  the  royal  wigwam  ;  and,  with 
a  grace  not  unbecoming  a  sovereign  born  in  the  purple,  Audusta 
invited  our  Frenchmen  to  place  themselves  at  ease,  each  accord- 
ing to  his  rank  and  station.  The  king  took  his  place  among  them, 
neither  above  the  first,  nor  below  the  last,  but  like  a  friend  within 
a  favorite  circle,  in  which  some  might  stand  more  nearly  than 
others  to  his  affections.  They  were  then  attended  with  the  pro- 
foundest  deference,  and  served  with  the  rarest  delicacies  of  the 
Indian  cuisine.  As  night  came  on,  fresh  rushes  were  strewed 
upon  the  floor,  and  they  slept  with  the  cheerful  music  of  songs 
and  laughter,  which  reached  them  at  intervals,  through  the  night, 
from  the  merry  makers  in  the  contiguous  forests.  With  the 
dawning  of  the  next  day,  prexjarations  for  the  great  festival  were 
begun. 


IV. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE.— CHAP.  II. 

THE  FESTIVAL  OF  TOYA. 

Being  a  continuation  of  the  legend  of  Guernache  ;  showing  the  superstitions  of  the  Red- 
Hen  ;  how  Guernache  offended  Captain  Albert,  and  what  followed  from  the  secret 
efforts  of  the  Frenchmen  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of  Toya  ! 

IT  would  be  difficult  to  say,  from  the  imperfect  narratives 
afforded  us  by  the  chroniclers,  what  were  the  precise  objects  of 
the  present  ceremonials  ; — what  gods  were  to  be  invoked ; — what 
evil  beings  implored  ; — what  wrath  and  anger  to  be  deprecated  and 
diverted  from  the  devoted  tribes.  As  the  Frenchmen  received 
no  explanation  of  their  mystic  preparations,  so  are  we  left  unen- 
lightened by  their  revelations.  They  do  not  even  amuse  us  by  their 
conjectures,  and  Laudonniere  stops  short  in  his  narrative  of  what 
did  happen,  apologizing  for  having  said  so  much  on  so  trifling  a 
matter.  We  certainly  owe  him  no  gratitude  for  his  forbearance. 
What  he  tells  us  affords  but  little  clue  to  the  motive  of  their  fan- 
tastic proceedings.  The  difficulty,  which  is  at  present  ours,  waa 
not  less  that  of  Albert  and  his  Frenchmen.  They  were  compelled 
to  behold  the  outlines  of  a  foreign  ritual  whose  mysteries  they 
were  not  permitted  to  explore,  and  had  their  curiosity  provoked 


THE   LEGEND   Of    GtTERNACHE.  45 

by  shows  of  a  most  exciting  character,  which  only  mocked  their 
desires,  and  tantalized  their  appetites.  On  the  first  arrival  of 
Albert,  and  after  he  had  been  rested  and  refreshed,  Audusta  him- 
self had  conducted  him,  with  his  followers,  to  the  spot  which  had 
been  selected  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  morrow.  "  This  was  a 
great  circuit  of  ground  with  open  prospect  and  round  in  figure." 
Here  they  saw  "  many  women  roundabout,  which  labored  by  all 
means  to  make  the  place  cleane  and  neate."  The  ceremonies 
began  early  on  the  morning  of  the  ensuing  day.  Hither  they  re- 
paired in  season,  and  found  "  all  they  which  were  chosen  to  cele- 
brate the  feast,"  already  "  painted  and  trimmed  with  rich  feathers 
of  divers  colours."  These  led  the  way  in  a  procession  from  the 
dwelling  of  Audusta  to  the  "  place  of  Toya."  Here,  when  they 
had  come,  they  set  themselves  in  new  order  under  the  guidance  of 
three  Indians,  who  were  distinguished  by  plumes,  paint,  and  a 
costume  entirely  superior  to  the  rest.  Each  of  them  carried  a 
tabret,  to  the  plaintive  and  lamenting  music  of  which  they  sang 
in  wild,  strange,  melancholy  accents ;  and,  in  slow  measures, 
dancing  the  while,  they  passed  gradually  into  the  very  centre  of 
the  sacred  circle.  They  were  followed  by  successive  groups, 
which  answered  to  their  strains,  and  to  whose  songs  they,  in  turn, 
responded  with  like  echoes.  This  continued  for  awhile,  the  music 
gradually  rising  and  swelling  from  the  slow  to  the  swift,  from  the 
sad  to  the  passionate,  while  the  moods  of  the  actors  and  the  spec- 
tators,also  varying,  the  character  of  the  scene  changed  to  one  of 
the  wildest  excitement.  Suddenly,  the  characters — those  who 
were  chief  officiators  in  this  apparent  hymn  of  fate — broke  from 
the  enchanted  circle — darted  through  the  ranks  of  the  spectators, 
and  dashed,  headlong,  with  frantic  cries,  into  the  depths  of  the 
neighboring  thickets.  Then  followed  another  class  of  actors.  As 


46  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

if  a  sudden  and  terrible  doom  overhung  the  nation,  the  Indian 
women  set  up  cries  of  grief  and  lamentation.  Their  passion  grew 
to  madness.  In  their  rage,  the  mothers  seized  upon  the  young 
virgins  of  the  tribe, and,  with  the  sharp  edges  of  muscle  shells,  they 
lanced  their  arms,  till  the  blood  gushed  forth  in  free  streams, 
which  they  eagerly  flung  into  the  air,  crying  aloud  at  every  mo- 
ment, "  He-to-yah !  He-to-yah !  He-to-yah !  "* 

These  ceremonies,  though  not  more  meaningless,  perhaps,  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Christian,  than  would  be  our  most  solemn  religious 
proceedings  in  those  of  the  Indian,  provoked  the  laughter  of  Al- 
bert and  some  of  his  Frenchmen.  This  circumstance  awakened 
the  indignation  of  their  excellent  friend,  Audusta.  His  displea- 
sure was  now  still  farther  increased  by  a  proceeding  of  Captain 
Albert.  It  was  an  attempt  upon  their  mysteries.  That  portion 
of  the  officiating  priesthood— their  lawas — who  fled  from  the 
sacred  enclosure  to  deep  recesses  of  the  woods,. sought  there  for 
the  prosecution,  in  secret,  of  rites  too  holy  for  the  vulgar  eye. 
Here  they  maintained  their  sanctum  sanctorum.  This  was  the 
place  consecrated  to  the  communion  of  the  god  with  his  imme- 
diate servants — the  holy  of  holies,  which  it  was  death  to  pene- 
trate or  pass.  Albert  suffered  his  curiosity  to  get  the  better  of 
his  discretion.  Offended  by  the  laughter  of  the  Frenchmen,  at 
what  they  had  already  beheld,  and  fearing  lest  their  audacity 
should  lead  them  farther,  the  king,  Audusta,  had  gathered  them 
again  within  the  royal  wigwam,  where  he  sought,  by  marked 
kindness  and  distinction,  to  make  them  forgetful  of  what  had  been 

*  Adair  likens  the  cry  of  the  Southern  Indians  to  the  sacred  name  among 
the  Jews—"  Je-ho-vah."  He  writes  the  Indian  syllables  thus—"  Yo-he- 
wah,"  and  it  constitutes  one  of  his  favorite  arguments  for  deducing  the 
origin  of  the  North  American  red-men  from  the  ancient  Hebrews 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  47 

denied.  They  had  seen,  as  he  told  them,  the  more  impressive 
portions  of  the  ceremonial.  There  were  others,  but  not  of  a  kind 
to  interest  them.  But  the  fact  that  there  was  something  to  con- 
ceal, stimulated  the  curiosity  of  Albert.  In  due  degree  with  the 
king's  anxiety  to  keep  his  secret,  was  that  of  the  French  captain's 
to  fathom  it.  Holding  a  brief  consultation  with  his  men,  accord- 
ingly, he  declared  his  desire  to  this  effect ;  and  proposed,  that  one 
of  their  number  should  contrive  to  steal  forth,  and,  finding  his 
way  to  the  forbidden  spot,  should  place  himself  in  such  a  position 
as  would  enable  him  to  survey  all  the  mysterious  proceedings. 
To  this  course,  Guernache  frankly  opposed  his  opinions.  His 
greater  intimacy  with  the  red-men  led  him  properly  to  conceive 
the  danger  which  might  ensue,  from  their  discovery  of  the  intru- 
sion. He  had  been  well  taught  by  Monaletta,  the  degree  of  im- 
portance which  they  attached  to  the  security  of  their  mystic  rites. 
Arguing  with  the  honesty  of  his  character,  he  warned  his  captain 
of  the 'risk  which  such  unbecoming  curiosity  would  incur — the 
peril  to  the  offender,  himself,  if  detected  ;  and  the  hazards  to  the 
colony  from  the  loss  of  that  friendship  to  which  they  had  been 
already  so  largely  indebted.  But  the  counsels  of  Guernache  were 
rejected  with  indignity.  Prepared,  already,  to  regard  him  with 
dislike  and  suspicion,  Albert  heard  his  suggestions  only  as  so 
much  impertinence  ;  and  rudely  commanded  him  not  to  forget 
himself  and  place,  nor  to  thrust  his  undesired  opinions  upon  the 
consideration  of  gentlemen.  The  poor  fellow  was  effectually 
silenced  by  this  rebuke.  He  sank  out  of  sight,  and  presumed  nf> 
farther  to  advise.  But  the  counsel  was  not  wholly  thrown  away 
Disregarded  by  Albert,  it  was  caught  up,  and  insisted  on,  by 
others,  who  had  better  conventional  claims  to  be  heard,  and  the 
proposition  might  have  been  defeated  but  for  the  ready  interposi- 


"V 

48  THE    LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

tion  of  one  Pierre  Renaud,  a  young  fellow,  who,  perceiving  the, 
captain's  strong  desire  to  seek  out  the  mystery,  and  anxious  to  in- 
gratiate himself  with  that  person,  boldly  laughed  at  the  fears  of 
the  objectors,  and  volunteered,  himself,  to  defy  the  danger,  in  his 
own  person,  in  order  to  gratify  his  chief.  This  silenced  the  con- 
troversy. Albert  readily  availed  himself  of  the  offer,  and  Pierre 
Renaud  was  commanded  to  try  his  fortune.  This  he  did,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  surveillance  maintained  over  them  by  Au- 
dusta  and  his  attendants,  tc  he  made  such  shift,  that,  by  subtle 
meanes,  he  gotte  out  of  the  house  of  Audusta,  and  secretly  went 
and  hid  himselfe  behinde  a  very  thick  bush,  where,  at  his  pleasure, 
he  might  easily  descry  the  ceremonies  of  the  feaste." 

We  will  leave  Renaud  thus  busy  in  his  espionage,  while  we  re- 
hearse the  manner  in  which  the  venerable  Audusta  proceeded  to 
treat  his  company.  A  substantial  feast  was  provided  for  them, 
consisting  of  venison,  wild  fowl,  and  fruits.  Their  breadstuff's 
were  maize,  batatas,  and  certain  roots  sodden  first  in  water,  and 
then  prepared  in  the  sun.  A  drink  was  prepared  from  certain 
other  roots,  which,  though  bitter,  was  refreshing  and  slightly 
stimulant.  Our  Frenchmen,  in  the  absence  of  the  beverages  of 
Italy  and  France,  did  not  find  it  unpalatable.  They  ate  and 
drank  with  a  hearty  relish,  which  gratified  the  red-men,  who  lav- 
ished on  them  a  thousand  caresses.  The  feast  was  followed  by 
the  dance.  In  a  spacious  area,  surrounded  by  great  ranks  of 
oaks,  cedars,  pines,  and  other  trees,  they  assembled,  men  and  wo- 
men, in  their  gayest  caparison.  The  men  were  tatooed  and 
painted,  from  head  to  foot,  and  not  inartistic  ally,  in  the  most 
glowing  colors.  Birds  and  beasts  were  figured  upon  their  breasts, 
and  huge,  strange  reptiles  were  made  to  coil  up  and  around  their 
legs  and  arms.  From  their  waists  depended  light  garments  of 


THE   LEGEND   OF   GUERNACHE.  49 

white  cotton,  the  skirts  being  trimmed  with  a  thick  fringe  of  red 
or  scarlet.  Some  of  them  wore  head-dresses  consisting  of  tho 
skins  of  snakes,  or  eagles,  the  panther  or  the  wild  cat,  which, 
stuffed  ingeniously,  were  made  to  sit  erect  above  the  forehead,  and 
to  look  abroad,  from  their  novel  place  of  perch,  in  a  manner 
equally  natural  and  frightful.  The  women  were  habited  in  a  simi- 
larly wild  but  less  offensive  manner.  The  taste  which  presided  in 
their  decorations,  was  of-. a  purer  and  a  gentler  fashion.  Their 
cheeks  were  painted  red,  their  arms,  occasionally  but  slightly  tat- 
tooed, and  sometimes  the  figure  of  a  bird,  a  flower  or  a  star,  might 
be  seen  engrained  upon  the  breast.  A  rather  scanty  robe  of 
white  cotton  concealed,  in  some  degree,  the  bosom,  and  extended 
somewhat  below  the  knees.  Around  the  necks  of  several^  were 
hung  thick  strands  of  native  pearls,  partially  discolored  by  the 
action  of  fire  which  had  been  employed  to  extricate  them  from  the 
shells.  Pearls  were  also  mingled  ingeniously  with  the  long  tresses 
of  their  straight,  black  hair ;  trailing  with  it,  in  not  unfrequent 
instances,  even  to  the  ground.  Others,  in  place  of  this  more 
valuable  ornament,  wore  necklaces,  anklets  and  tiaras,  formed 
wholly  of  one  or  other  of  the  numerous  varieties  of  little  sea 
shells,  by  which,  after  heavy  storms,  the  low  and  sandy  shores  of 
the  country  were  literally  covered.  Strings  of  the  same  shell  en- 
circled the  legs,  which  were  sometimes  of  a  shape  to  gratify  the 
nicest  exactions  of  the  civilized  standard.  The  forms  of  our  In- 
dian damsels  were  generally  symmetrical  and  erect,  their  move- 
ments at  once  agile  and  graceful — their  foreheads  high,  their  lips 
thin,  and,with  a  soft,  persuasive  expression,  inclining  to  melancholy ; 
while  their  eyes,  black  and  bright,  always  shone  with  a  peculiar 
forest  fire  that  seemed  happily  to  consort  with  their  dark,  but  not 
unpleasing  complexions.  Well,  indeed,  with  a  pardonable  vanity, 
3 


50  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

might  their  people  call  them  the  "  Daughters  of  the  Sun."  He 
h^d  made  them  his,  by  his  warmest  and  fondest  glances.  These 
were  the  women,  whose  descendants,  in  after  days,  as  Yemassees 
and  Muscoghees  and  Seminoles,  became  the  scourge  of  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  Anglo-American  race. 

When  the  Frenchmen  beheld  this,,  rude,  but  really  brilliant 
assemblage,  and  saw  what  an  attractive  show  the  young  damsels 
made,  they  were  delighted  beyond  measure.  Visions  of  the  rout 
and  revel,  as  enjoyed  in  La  Belle  France^  glanced  before  their 
fancies ;  and  the  lively  capering  that  followed  among  the  young 
Huguenots,  informed  Captain  Albert  of  the  desire  which  was  felt 
by  all.  In  stern,  compelling  accents,  he  bade  Guernache  take  his 
violin,  and  provide  the  music,  while  the  rest  prepared  to  dance. 
But  .Guernache  excused  himself,  alleging  the  want  of  strings  for 
his  instrument.  These  were  shown,  in  a  broken  state,  to  his 
commander.  He  had  broken  them,  we  may  state  en  passant,  for 
the  occasion.  His  pride  had  been  hurt  by  the  treatment  of  his 
captain.  He  felt  that  the  purpose  of  the  latter  was  to  degrade 
him.  Such  a  performance  as  that  required  at  his  hands,  was  pro- 
perly no  part  of  his  duty ;  and  his  proud  spirit  revolted  at  the 
idea  of  contributing,  in  any  way,  to  the  wishes  of  his  superior, 
when  the  object  of  the  latter  was  evidently  his  own  degradation. 
Albert  spoke  to  him  testily,  and  with  brows  that  did  not  seek  to 
subdue  or  conceal  their  frowns.  But  Guernache  was  firm,  and 
though  he  studiously  forebore,  by  word  or  look,  to  increase  the 
provocation  which  he  had  already  given,  he  yet  made  no  effort  to 
pacify  the  imperious  nature  which  he  had  offended.  The  excuse 
was  such  as  could  not  but  be  taken.  There  was  the  violin,  in- 
deed, but  there,  also,  were  the  broken  strings.  Albert  turned 
from  the  musician  with  undisguised  loathing ;  and  the  poor  fellow 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  51 

sunk  back  with  a  secret  presentiment  of  evil.     He  but  too  well 
knew  the  character  of  his  superior. 

Meanwhile,  the  red  men  had  resort  to  their  own  primitive 
music.  Their  instruments  consisted  of  simple  reeds,  which, 
bound  together,  were  passed,  to  and  fro,  beneath  the  lips  and  dis- 
coursed very  tolerable  harmonies  ; — and  a  rude  drum  formed  by 
stretching  a  raw  deer  skin  over  the  mouth  of  a  monstrous  cala 
bash,  enabled  them,  when  the  skin  had  been  contracted  in  the 
sun,  to  extort  from  it  a  very  tolerable  substitute  for  the  music  of 
the  tambourine.  There  were  other  instruments,  susceptible  of 
sound  if  not  of  sweetness.  Numerous  damsels,  none  over  fifteen, 
lithe  and  graceful,  carried  in  their  hands  little  gourds,  which  were 
filled  with  shells  and  pebbles,  and  tied  over  with  skins,  dried  also 
in  the  sun.  With  these,  as  they  danced,  they  kept  time  so  ad- 
mirably as  might  have  charmed  the  most  practised  European 
master.  Thus,all  provided,  some  with  the  drum,  and  others  with 
flute-like  reeds  and  hollow,  tinkling  gourds,  they  only  awaited  the 
summons  of  their  partners  to  the  area.  Shaking  their  tinkling 
gourds,  as  if  in  pretty  impatience  at  the  delay,  the  girls  each 
waited,  with  anxious  looks,  the  signal  from  her  favorite. 

The  Frenchmen  were  not  slow  in  seeking  out  their  partners. 
At  the  word  and  signal  of  their  captain,  they  dashed  in  among  the 
laughing  group  of  dusky  maidens,  each  seeking  for  the  girl  whose 
beauties  had  been  most  grateful  to  his  tastes.  Nor  was  Captain 
Albert,  himself,  with  all  his  pride  and  asceticism,  unwilling  to  for- 
get his  dignity  for  a  season,  and  partake  of  the  rude  festivities  of 
the  occasion.  When,  indeed,  did  mirth  and  music  fail  to  usurp 
dominion  in  the  Frenchman's  heart  ?  Albert  greedily  cast  his 
eyes  about,  seeking  a  partner,  upon  whom  he  might  bestow  his 
smiles.  He  was  not  slow  in  the  selection.  It  so  happened,  that 


52  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

Monaletta,  the  spouse  of  Guernache,  was  not  only  one  of  the 
loveliest  damsels  present,  but  she  was  well  known  as  the  niece  of 
King  Audusta.  Her  beauty  and  royal  blood,  equally  commended 
her  to  the  favor  of  our  captain.  She  stood  apart  from  all  the 
rest,  stately  and  graceful  as  the  cedar,  not  seeming  to  care  for  the 
merriment  in  which  all  were  now  engaged.  There  was  a  dash  of 
sadness  in  her  countenance.  Her  thoughts  were  elsewhere — her 
eyes  scarcely  with  the  assembly,  when  the  approach  of  Albert 
startled  her  from  her  reverie.  He  came  as  Caesar  did,  to  certain 
conquest ;  and  was  about  to  take  her  hand,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
when  he  was  equally  astounded  and  enraged  to  find  her  draw  it 
away  from  his  grasp. 

"  You  will  not  dance  with  me,  Monaletta  ?" 

"  No,"  she  answered  him  in  broken  French — "  No  dance  with 
you — dance  with  him  /"  pointing  to  Gruernache. 

Speaking  these  words,  she  crossed  the  floor,  with  all  the  bold 
imprudence  of  a  truly  loving  heart,  to  the  place  where  stood  our 
sorrowful  and  unhappy  violinist.  He  had  followed  the  movements 
of  Albert,  with  looks  of  most  serious  apprehension,  and  his  heart 
had  sunk,  with  a  sudden  terror,  when  he  saw  that  he  approached 
Monaletta.  The  scene  which  followed,  however  grateful  to  his 
affections,  was  seriously  calculated  to  arouse  his  fears.  He  feared 
for  Monaletta,  as  he  feared  for  himself.  Nothing  escaped  him  in 
the  brief  interview,  and  he  saw,  in  the  vindictive  glances  of  Albert, 
the  most  evil  auguries  for  the  future.  Yet  how  precious  was  her 
fondness  to  his  heart !  He  half  forgot  his  apprehensions  as  he 
felt  her  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  and  beheld  her  eyes  looking  with 
appealing  fondness  up  into  his  own.  That  glance  was  full  of  the 
sweetest  consolation, — and  said  everything  that  was  grateful  to  his 
terrified  affections.  She,  too,  had  seen  the  look  of  hate  and  anger 


THE   LEGEND   OF   GUERNACHE.  53 

in  the  face  of  Albert,  and  she  joyed  in  the  opportunity  of  rebuk- 
ing the  one  with  her  disdain,  and  of  consoling  the  other  with  her 
sympathies.  It  was  an  unhappy  error.  Bitter,  indeed,  was  the 
look  with  which  the  aroused  and  mortified  Albert  regarded  the 
couple  as  they  stood  apart  from  all  the  rest.  Guernache  beheld 
this  look.  He  knew  the  meaning  of  that  answering  glance  of  his 
superior  which  encountered  his  own.  His  looks  were  those  of  en- 
treaty, of  deprecation.  They  seemed  to  say,  "  I  feel  that  you 
are  offended,  but  I  had  no  purpose  or  part  in  the  offence."  His 
glance  of  humility  met  with  no  answering  indulgence.  It  seemed, 
indeed,  still  farther  to  provoke  his  tyrant,  who,  advancing  mid- 
way across  the  room,  addressed  him  in  stern,  hissing  accents, 
through  his  closed  and  almost  gnashing  teeth. 

"  Away,  sirrah,  to  the  pinnace  !  See  that  you  remain  in  her 
until  I  summon  you !  Away !" 

The  poor  fellow  turned  off  from  Monaletta.  He  shook  himself 
free  from  the  grasp  which  she  had  taken  of  his  hand.  He  pre- 
pared to  obey  the  wanton  and  cruel  order,  but  he  could  not  for- 
bear saying  reproachfully  as  he  retired — 

"  You  push  me  too  hard,  Captain  Albert." 

"No  words,  sir  !  Away  !"  was  the  stern  response.  The  sub- 
missive fellow  instantly  disappeared.  With  his  disappearance, 
Albert  again  approached  Monaletta,  and  renewed  his  application. 
But  this  time  he  met  with  a  rejection  even  more  decided  than  be- 
fore. He  looked  to  King  Audusta;  but  an  Indian  princess,  while 
she  remains  unmarried,  enjoys  a  degree  of  social  liberty  which 
the  same  class  of  persons  in  Europe  would  sigh  for  and  supplicate 
in  vain.  There  were  no  answering  sympathies  in  the  king's  face, 
to  encourage  Albert  in  the  prosecution  of  his  suit.  Nay,  he  had 
the  mortification  to  perceive,  from  the  expression  of  his  counte- 


54 


THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


nance,  that  his  proceedings  towards  Ghiernache — who  was  a  gen 
eral  favorite — had  afforded  not  more  satisfaction  to  him,  than  they 
had  done  to  Monaletta.  It  was,  therefore,  in  no  very  pleasant 
mood  with  himself  and  those  around  him,  that  our  captain  con- 
soled himself  in  the  dance  with  the  hand  of  an  inferior  beauty. 
Jealous  of  temper  and  frivolous  of  mind — characteristics  which 
are  frequently  found  together — Albert  was  very  fond  of  dancing, 
and  enjoyed  the  sport  quite  as  greatly  as  any  of  his  companions. 
But,  even  while  he  capered,  his  soul,  stung  and  dissatisfied,  was 
brooding  vexatiously  over  its  petty  hurts.  His  thoughts  were 
busied  in  devising  ways  to  revenge  himself  upon  the  humble 
offender  by  whom  his  mortification  originally  grew.  Upon  this 
sweet  and  bitter  cud  did  he  chew  while  the  merry  music  sounded 
in  his  ears,  and  the  gaily  twinkling  feet  of  the  dusky  maidens 
were  whirling  in  promiscuous  mazes  beneath  his  eye.  But  these 
festivities,  and  his  own  evil  meditations,  were  destined  to  have  an 
interruption  as  startling  as  unexpected. 

While  the  mirth  was  at  its  highest,  and  the  merriment  most 
contagious,  the  ears  of  the  assembly  were  startled  by  screams,  the 
most  terrible,  of  fright  and  anguish.  The  Frenchmen  felt  a 
nameless  terror  seizing  upon  them.  The  cries  and  shrieks  were 
from  an  European  throat.  Wild  was  the  discord  which  accom- 
panied them, — whoops  of  wrath  and  vengeance,  which,  as  evi- 
dently issued  only  from  the  throats  of  most  infuriated  savages. 
The  music  ceased  in  an  instant.  The  dance  was  arrested.  The 
Frenchmen  rushed  to  their  arms,  fully  believing  that  they 
were  surrounded  by  treachery — that  they  had  been  beguiled  to 
the  feast  only  to  become  its  victims.  With  desperate  decision, 
they  prepared  themselves  for  the  worst.  While  their  suspense  and 
fear  were  at  their  highest,  the  cause  of  the  alarm  and  uproar  soon  be- 


THE    LEGEND    OP    GUERNACHE.  55 

came  apparent  to  their  eyes.  Bursting,  like  a  wounded  deer, 
suddenly,  from  the  woods  by  which  the  dwelling  of  Audusta  was 
surrounded,  a  bloody  figure,  ghastly  and  spotted,  appeared  before 
the  crowd.  In  another  moment  the  Frenchmen  recognized  the 
spy,  Pierre  Renaud,  who  had  volunteered  to  get  at  the  heart  of 
the  Indian  mysteries — to  follow  the  priesthood  to  their  sacred 
haunts,  and  gather  all  the  secrets  of  their  ceremonials. 

We  have  already  seen  that  he  reached  his  place  of  watch  in 
safety.  But  here  his  good  fortune  failed  him :  his  place  of  es- 
pionage was  not  one  of  concealment.  In  the  wild  orgies  of  their 
religion, — for  they  seem  to  have  practised  rites  not  dissimilar  to, 
and  not  less  violent  and  terrible  than  those  of  the  British 

*, 

Druids, — the  priests  darted  over  the  crouching  spy.  Detected  in 
the  very  act,  where  he  lay,  "  squat  like  a  toad,"  the  lawas  fell 
upon  him  with  the  sharp  instruments  of  flint  with  which  they  had 
been  lancing  and  lacerating  their  own  bodies.  With  these  they 
contrived,  in  spite  of  all  his  struggles  and  entreaties,  to  inflict  upon 
him  some  very  severe  wounds.  Then*  rage  was  unmeasured,  and 
the  will  to  slay  him  was  not  wanting.  But  Renaud  was  a  fellow 
equally  vigorous  and  active.  He  baffled  their  blows  as  well  as  he 
could,  and  at  length  breaking  from  their  folds,  he  took  fairly  to  his 
heels.  Howling  with  rage  and  fury,  they  darted  upon  his  track, 
their  wild  shrieks  ringing  through  the  wood  like  those  of  so  many 
demons  suffering  in  mortal  agony.  They  cried  to  all  whom  they 
saw,  to  stay  and  slay  the  offender.  Others  joined  in  the  chase,  as 
they  hoard  this  summons.  But  fortune  favored  the  fugitive.  His 
terror  added  wings  to  his  flight.  He  was  not,  it  seems,  destined 
to  such  a  death  as  they  designed  him.  He  outran  his  pursuers, 
and.  dodging  those  whom  he  accidentally  encountered,  he  made 
his  way  into  the  thick  of  the  area,  where  his  comrades,  half  be- 


56  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

wildered  by  the  uproar,  were  breaking  up  the  dance.  He  sank 
down  in  the  midst  of  them,  exhausted  by  loss  of  blood  and  fatigue, 
only  a  moment  before  the  appearance  of  his  pursuers. 

The  French  instantly  closed  around  their  companion.  They 
had  not  put  aside  their  weapons,  and  they  now  prepared  them- 
selves to  encounter  the  worst.  The  aspect  of  the  danger  was 
threatening  in  the  last  degree.  The  lawas  were  boiling  with 
sacred  fury.  They  were  the  true  rulers  of  their  people.  Their 
will  was  sovereign  over  the  popular  moods.  They  demanded, 
with  violent  outcry,  the  blood  of  the  individual  by  whom  their 
sacred  retreats  had  been  violated,  and  their  shekinah  polluted  by 
vulgar  and  profane  presence.  They  demanded  the  blood  of  all 
the  Frenchmen,  as  participating  in  the  crime.  They  called 
upon  Audusta  to  assert  his  own  privileges  and  theirs.  They 
appealed  to  the  people  in  a  style  of  phrenzied  eloquence,  the 
effects  of  which  were  soon  visible  in  the  inflamed  features  and 
wild  action  of  the  more  youthful  warriors.  Already  were  these 
to  be  seen  slapping  their  sides,  tossing  their  hands  in  air, 
and,  with  loud  shrieks,  lashing  themselves  into  a  fury  like  that 
which  enflamed  their  prophets.  'King  Audusta  looked  con- 
founded. The  Frenchmen  were  his  guests.  He  had  invited 
them  to  partake  of  his  hospitality,  and  to  enjoy  the  rites  of  his 
religion.  He  was  in  some  sort  pledged  for  their  safety,  though 
one  of  them  had  violated  the  conditions  of  their  coming.  His 
own  feelings  revolted  at  giving  any  sanction  for  the  assault,  yet 
he  appeared  unable  or  unwilling  to  resist  the  clamors  of  the 
priesthood.  But  he  also  demanded,  though  with  evident  reluc- 
tance, the  blood  of  the  offender.  He  was  not  violent,  though 
urgent,  in  this  demand.  He  showed  indignation  rather  than 
hostility  j  and  he  gave  Albert  to  understand  that  in  no  way 


THE   LEGEND   OF   GUERNACHE.  57 

could  the  people  or  the  priesthood  be  appeased,  unless  by  the 
sacrifice  of  the  guilty  person. 

But  Albert  could  not  yield  the  victim.  The  French  were 
prepared  to  perish  to  a  man  before  complying  with  any  such 
demand.  They  were  firm.  They  fenced  him  in  with  their 
weapons,  and  declared  their  readiness  to  brave  every  peril  ere 
they  would  abandon  their  comrade.  This  resolution  was  the 
more  honorable,  as  Pierre  Renaud  was  no  favorite  among 
them.  Though  seriously  disquieted  by  the  event,  and  apprehen- 
sive of  the  issue,  Albert  was  man  enough  to  second  their  spirit. 
Besides,  Renaud  had  been  his  own  emissary  in  the  adventure 
which  threatened  to  terminate  so  fatally.  His  denial  was  in- 
ferred from  his  deportment ;  and  the  clamor  of  the  Indians  was 
increased.  The  rage  of  the  lawas  was  renewed  with  the  con- 
viction that  no  redress  was  to  be  given  them.  Already  had  the 
young  warriors  of  Audusta  procured  their  weapons.  More  than 
an  hundred  of  them  surrounded  our  little  band  of  Frenchmen, 
who  were  only  thirteen  in  number.  Bows  were  bent,  lances 
were  set  in  rest,  javelins  were  seen  lifted,  and  ready  to  bo 
thrown ;  and  the  drum  which  had  been  just  made  to  sound,  in 
lively  tones,  for  the  dance,  now  gave  forth  the  most  dismal  din, 
significant  of  massacre  and  war.  Already  were  to  be  seen,  in 
the  hands  of  some  more  daring  Indian  than  the  rest,  the  heavy 
war-club,  or  the  many-teethed  macana,  waving  aloft  and  threat- 
ening momently  to  descend  upon  the  victim ;  and  nothing  was 
wanting  but  a  first  blow  to  bring  on  a  general  massacre.  Sud- 
denly, at  this  perilous  moment,  the  fiddle  of  Guernache  was 
heard  without ;  followed,  in  a  moment  after,  by  the  appearance 
of  the  brave  fellow  himself.  Darting  in  between  the  opposing 
ranks,  attended  by  the  faithful  Monaletta,  with  a  grand  crash 
3* 


58  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM 

upon  his  instrument,  now  newly-strung,  followed  by  a  rapid 
gush  of  the  merriest  music,  he  took  both  parties  by  the  happiest 
surprise,  and  instantly  produced  a  revulsion  of  feeling  among 
the  savages  as  complete  as  it  was  sudden. 

"  Ami !  ami !  ami !"  was  the  only  cry  from  an  hundred  voices, 
at  the  reappearance  of  Guernache  among  them.  They  had 
acquired  this  friendly  epithet  among  the  first  words  which  they 
had  learned  at  their  coming,  from  the  French  ;  and  their  affection 
for  our  fiddler  had  made  its  application  to  himself,  in  particular, 
a  thing  of  general  usage.  He  was  their  friend.  He  had  shown 
himself  their  friend,  and  they  had  a  faith  in  kirn  which  they 
accorded  to  no  other  of  his  people.  The  people  were  with  him, 
and  the  priesthood  not  unfriendly.  Time  was  gained  by  this 
diversion  ;  and,  in  such  an  outbreak  as  that  which  has  been 
described,  time  is  all  that  is  needful,  perhaps,  to  stay  the  arm 
of  slaughter.  Guernache  played  out  his  tune,  and  cut  a  few 
pleasant  antics,  in  which  the  now  happy  Monaletta,  though  of  the 
blood  royal,  readily  joined  him.  The  musician  had  probably 
saved  the  party  from  massacre.  The  subsequent  work  of  treaty 
and  pacification  was  comparatively  easy.  Pierre  Renaud  was 
permitted  to  depart  for  the  pinnace,  under  the  immediate  care 
of  Guernache  and  Monaletta.  The  lawas  received  some  presents 
of  gaudy  costume,  bells,  and  other  gew-gaws,  while  a  liberal  gift 
of  knives  and  beads  gratified  their  warriors  and  their  women. 
The  old  ties  of  friendship  were,  happily  reunited,  and  the  calumet 
went  round,  from  mouth  to  mouth,  in  token  of  restored  confidence 
and  renewed  faith.  Before  nightfall,  happily  relieved  from  his 
apprehensions,  Albert,  with  his  detachment,  was  rapidly  making 
his  way  with  his  pinnace,  down  the  waters  of  the  swiftly-rolling 
Edisto. 


V. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE.— CHAP.  Ill 

The  Legend  of  Guernache  ia  continued,  showing  how  the  Fortress  of  the  Huguenots  WM 
destroyed,  and  what  happened  thereafter  to  Guernache  the  Musician. 

THE  fidelity  which  Guernache  had  shown  in  the  recent  diffi- 
culty with  the  Indians,  did  not  appear  to  lessen  in  any  degree 
the  unfavorable  impressions  which  Capt.  Albert  had  received  of 
that  worthy  fellow.  Indeed,  the  recent  and  remarkable  service 
which  he  had  rendered,  by  which,  in  all  probability,  the  whole 
party  had  been  preserved  from  massacre,  rather  increased,  if  any 
thing,  the  hostile  temper  of  his  superior.  The  evil  spirit  still 
raged  within  the  bosom  of  Capt.  Albert,  utterly  baffling  a  judg- 
ment at  no  period  of  particular  excellence,  and  blinding  every 
honorable  sentiment  which  might  have  distinguished  him  under 
other  influences.  He  was  now  doubly  mortified,  that  he  should 
be  supposed  to  owe  his  present  safety  to  the  person  he  had 
wronged — a  mortification  which  found  due  increase  as  he  remem- 
bered how  much  greater  had  been  the  respect  and  deference  of 
the  savages  for  his  drummer  than  for  himself.  This  recollection 
was  a  perpetual  goad  to  that  working  malice  in  his  heart,  which 
was  already  busied  in  devising  schemes  of  revenge,  which  were 
to  salve  his  hurts  of  pride  and  vanity,  by  the  sufferings  as  well 


60  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

as  humiliation  of  his  subordinate.  It  will  scarcely  be  believed 
that,  when  fairly  out  of  sight  of  the  village  of  Audusta,  he  re- 
buked Guernache  sharply,  for  leaving  the  pinnace  against  his 
orders,  and  even  spoke  of  punishing  him  for  this  disobedience.* 
But  the  murmurs  of  some  of  his  officers,  and,  perhaps,  a  little 
lurking  sentiment  of  shame  in  his  own  bosom,  prevented  him 
from  attempting  any  such  disgraceful  proceeding.  But  the  feel- 
ing of  hostility  only  rankled  the  more  because  of  its  suppression, 
and  he  soon  contrived  to  show  Guernache  and,  indeed,  everybody 
besides,  that  from  that  hour  he  was  his  most  bitter  and  unforgiv- 
ing enemy,  with  a  little  and  malignant  spirit,  he  employed  vari- 
ous petty  arts,  which  a  superior  of  a  base  nature  may  readily 
command  on  all  occasions,  by  which  to  make  the  poor  fellow  feel 
how  completely  he  was  at  his  mercy  ;  and  each  day  exposed  him 
to  some  little  snare,  or  some  stern  caprice,  by  which  Guernache 
became  involuntarily  an  offender.  His  tyrant  subjected  him  to 
duties  the  most  troublesome  and  humiliating,  while  denying,  or 
stinting  him  of  all  those  privileges  which  were  yet  commonly  ac- 
corded to  his  comrades.  But  all  this  would  have  been  as  nothing 
to  Guernache,  if  he  had  not  been  denied  permission  to  visit,  as 
before,  the  hamlet  of  Audusta,  where  his  princess  dwelt.  On 
the  miserable  pretext  that  the  priesthood  might  revenge  upon 
him  the  misconduct  of  Renaud,  Albert  insisted  upon  his  abstain- 
ing wholly  from  the  Indian  territories.  But  this  pretence  de- 
ceived nobody,  and  nobody  less  than  Guernache.  Little  did  the 

*  Charlevoix  thus  describes  Captain  Albert :  "  Le  Commandant  de 
Charles-Fort  e"toit  un  homme  de  main,  et  qui  ne  manquoit  pas  absolument 
de  conduite,  mais  il  etoit  brutal  jusqu'  &  la  fe'rocite,  et  ne  scavoit  pas 

memegarderlesbienseances II  punissoit  les  moindres  fautes, 

and  toujours  avec  exces,  &c.— N.  France,  Liv.  1.  p.  51. 


THE   LEGEND   OP   GUERNACHE.  61 

petty  tyrant  of  Fort  Charles  imagine  that  the  object  of  his 
malice  enjoyed  a  peculiar  source  of  consolation  for  all  these 
privations.  His  comrades  were  his  friends.  They  treated  him 
with  a  warmth  and  kindness,  studiously  proportioned  to  the  ill- 
treatment  of  his  superior.  They  assisted  him  in  the  severer 
tasks  which  were  allotted  him  to  fulfil — gave  him  their  company 
whenever  this  was  possible,  while  he  was  engaged  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  most  cheerless  duties,  and  soothed  his  sorrows  by  the 
expression  of  their  almost  unanimous  sympathies.  Nor  did  they 
always  withhold  their  bitter  denunciations  of  the  miserable  des- 
potism under  which  he  suffered,  and  which  they  feared.  Dark 
hints  of  remedy  were  spoken,  brows  frowned  at  the  mention  of 
the  wrongs  of  their  companion,  and  the  head  shaken  ominously, 
when  words  of  threatening  significance  were  uttered — appealed 
gratefully  to  certain  bitter  desires  which  had  taken  root  in  the 
mind  of  the  victim.  But  these  sympathies,  though  grateful, 
were  of  small  amount  in  comparison  with  another  source  of 
consolation,  which  contributed  to  sustain  Guernache  in  his  tribu- 
lation. This  was  found  in  the  secret  companionship  of  his  young 
and  beautiful  Indian  wife.  Denied  to  see  him  at  the  village  of 
Audusta,  the  fond  and  fearless  woman  determined  to  seek  him  at 
all  hazards  in  his  own  domain.  She  stole  away  secretly  to  the 
fortress  of  the  Huguenots.  Long  and  earnest  was  the  watch  which 
she  maintained  upon  its  portals,  from  the  thickets  of  the  neigh- 
boring wood.  Here,  vigilant  as  the  sentinel  that  momently 
expects  his  foe,  she  harbored  close,  in  waiting  for  the  beloved 
one.  Her  quick  instincts  had  already  taught  her  the  true  cause 
of  his  denial,  and  of  her  disappointment ;  and  her  Indian  lessons 
had  made  that  concealment, which  she  now  believed  to  be  neces* 
sary  to  her  purpose,  a  part  of  the  habitual  policy  of  her  people 


- 
62  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

She  showed  herself  to  none  of  the  people  of  the  fortress.  She 
suspected  them  all ;  she  had  no  faith  but  in  the  single  one.  And 
he,  at  length,  came  forth,  unaccompanied,  in  the  prosecution  of  an 
occasional  labor — that  of  cutting  and  procuring  wood.  She  suf- 
fered him,  to  make  his  way  into  the  forests — to  lose  sight  of  the 
fortress,  and,  with  a  weary  spirit  and  a  wounded  soul,  to  begin 
his  lonely  labors  with  the  axe.  Then  did  she  steal  behind  him, 
and  beside  him  ;  and  when  he  moaned  aloud — supposing  that  he 
had  no  auditor — how  startling  fell  upon  his  ear  the  sweet,  soft 
whisper  of  that  precious  voice  which  he  had  so  lovingly  learned 
to  distinguish  from  all  others.  He  turned  with  a  gu*h  of  raptur- 
ous delight,  and,  weeping,  she  rushed  into  his  arms,  pouring 
forth,  in  a  wild  cry,  upon  his  breast,  the  whole  full  volume  of 
her  warm,  devoted  heart ! 

That  moment,  in  spite  of  all  his  fears,  was  amply  compensative 
to  Gruernache  for  all  his  troubles.  He  forgot  them  all  in  the  in- 
tensity of  his  new  delights.  And  when  Monaletta  led  him  off 
from  his  tasks  to  the  umbrageous  retreat  in  the  deeper  woods 
where  her  nights  had  been  recently  passed, — when  she  conducted 
him  to  the  spot  where  her  own  hands  had  built  a  mystic  bower  for 
her  own  shelter — when  she  declared  her  purpose  still  to  occupy 
this  retreat,  in  the  solitude  alone, — that  she  might  be  ever  near 
him,  to  behold  him  at  a  distance,  herself  unseen,  when  he  came 
forth  accompanied  by  others — to  join  him,  to  feel  his  embrace, 
hear  his  words  of  love,  and  assist  him  in  his  labors  when  he  came 
forth  unattended — when,  speaking  and  promising  thus,  she  lay 
upon  the  poor  fellow's  bosom,  looking  up  with  tearful  and  bright 
eyes  in  his  wan  and  apprehensive  countenance — then  it  was  that 
he  could  forget  his  tyrant — could  lose  his  fears  and  sorrows  in  his 
love,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  moments  the  most  precious  to  his 


THE    LEGEND    OF    QUERNACHE.  63 

heart,  forget  all  the  accompanying  influences  which  might  en- 
danger his  safety. 

But  necessity  arose  sternly  between  the  two,  and  pointed  to  the 
exactions  of  duty.  The  tasks  of  Gruernache  were  to  be  com- 
pleted. His  axe  was  required  to  sound  among  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  and  a  certain  number  of  pieces  of  timber  were  required 
by  sunset  at  his  hands.  It  was  surprising  as  it  was  sweet  to 
behold  the  Indian  woman  as  she  assisted  him  in  his  tasks.  Her 
strength  did  not  suffice  for  the  severer  toils  of  the  wood-cutter, 
but  she  contrived  a  thousand  modes  for  contributing  to  his  per- 
formances. Love  lightens  every  labor,  and  invents  a  thousand 
arts  by  which  to  do  so.  Monaletta  anticipated  the  wants  of 
Gruernache.  She  removed  the  branches  as  he  smote  them,  she 
threw  the  impediments  from  his  way, — helped  him  to  lift  and  turn 
the  logs  as  each  successive  side  was  to  be  hewn.  She  brought 
him  water,  when  he  thirsted,  from  the  spring.  She  spoke  and 
sung  to  him  in  the  most  encouraging  voice  when  he  was  weary. 
He  was  never  weary  when  with  her. 

Guernache  combatted  her  determination  to  remain  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  fortress ;  but  his  objections  were  feebly  urged,  and 
she  soon  overcame  them.  He  had  not  the  courage  to  insist  upon 
his  argument,  as  he  had  not  the  strength  to  resist  the  consolations 
which  her  presence  brought  him.  She  soon  succeeded  in  assuring 
him  that  there  was  little  or  no  danger  of  detection  by  their  enemy. 
She  laughed  at  the  idea  of  the  Frenchmen  discovering  her  place 
of  concealment,  surprising  her  in  her  progress  through  the  woods, 
or  overtaking  her  in  flight ;  and  Gruernache  knew  enough  of  Indian 
subtlety  readily  to  believe  that  the  white  was  no  match  for  the 
lusky  race  in  the  exercise  of  all  those  arts  which  are  taught  by 
.brest  life.  "But  her  loneliness  and  privation,  exposed  to  the 


64  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

season's  changes,  and  growing  melancholy  in  the  absence  from  old 
associates?"  But  how  could  she  be  lonely,  was  her  argument, 
when  near  the  spot  where  he  dwelt — when  she  could  see  and  hear 
and  speak  with  him  occasionally?  She  wished  no  other  com- 
munion. As  for  the  exposure  of  her  present  abode,  was  it 
greater  than  that  to  which  the  wandering  life  of  the  red-man 
subjects  his  people  at  all  seasons  ?  The  Indian  woman  is  quite  as 
much  at  home  in  the  forest  as  the  Indian  warrior.  She  acquires 
her  resources  of  strength  and  dexterity  in  his  company,  and  by 
the  endurance  of  similar  necessities  and  the  employment  of  like 
exercises.  She  learns  even  in  childhood  to  build  her  own  green 
bower  at  night,  to  gather  her  own  fuel,  light  her  own  fire,  dress 
her  own  meat — nay,  provide  it ;  and,  weaponed  with  bow,  and 
javelin  and  arrow,  bring  down  buck  or  doe  bounding  at  full  speed 
through  the  wildest  forests.  Her  skill  and  spirit  are  only  not 
equal  to  those  of  the  master  by  whom  she  is  taught,  but  she 
acquires  his  arts  to  a  degree  which  makes  her  sometimes  worthy 
to  be  lifted  by  the  tribe  from  her  own  rank  into  his.  Monaletta 
reminded  Ghiernache  of  all  these  things.  She  had  the  most  con- 
clusive and  convincing  methods  of  argument.  She  reassured  him 
on  all  his  doubts,  and,  in  truth,  it  was  but  too  easy  to  do  so.  It 
was  unhappy  for  them  both,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  that  the 
selfish  passion  of  the  poor  musician  too  readily  reconciled  him  to 
a  self-devotion  on  the  part  of  his  wife,  which  subjected  her  to  his 
own  perils,  and  greatly  tended  to  their  increase.  With  the  evil 
eye  of  Albert  upon  him,  he  should  have  known  that  safety  was 
impossible  for  him  in  the  event  of  error.  And  error  was  in- 
evitable now,  with  the  pleasant  tempter  so  near  his  place  of 
Coventry.  We  must  not  wonder  to  discover  now  that  Gruernache 
seldom  sleeps  within  the  limits  of  the  fortress.  At  midnight, 


THE    LEGEND    OP    GUERNACHE.  65 

when  all  is  dark  and  quiet,  lie  leaps  over  the  walls,  those  nights 
excepted  when  it  is  his  turn  of  duty  to  watch  within.  His  secret 
is  known  to  some  of  his  comrades  ;  Tbut  they  are  too  entirely  his 
friends  to  betray  him  to  a  despot  who  had,  by  this  time,  outraged 
the  feelings  of  most  of  those  who  remained  under  his  com- 
mand. Guernache  was  now  enabled  to  bear  up  more  firmly  than 
ever  against  the  tyranny  of  Albert.  His,  indeed,  were  nights  of 
happiness.  How  sweetly  sped  the  weeks,  in  which,  despite  his 
persecutions,  he  felt  that  he  enjoyed  a  life  of  luxurious  pleasures, 
such  as  few  enjoy  in  any  situation.  His  were  the  honest  ex- 
citements of  a  genuine  passion,  which,  nourished  by  privation 
and  solitude,  and  indulged  in  secresy,  was  of  an  intensity  corres- 
ponding with  the  apparent  denial,  and  the  real  embarrassments  of 
such  a  condition.  His  pleasures  were  at  once  stolen  and  legiti- 
mate ;  the  apprehension  which  attends  their  pursuit  giving  a 
wild  zest  to  their  enjoyment ;  though,in  the  case  of  Guernache, 
unlike  that  of  most  of  those  who  indulge  in  stolen  joys,  they  were 
honest,  and  left  no  cruel  memories  behind  them. 

It  was  the  subject  of  a  curious  study  and  surprise  to  Captain 
Albert,  that  our  musician  was  enabled  to  bear  up  against  his 
tyranny  with  so  much  equal  firmness  and  forbearance.  He 
watched  the  countenance  of  Guernache, whenever  they  met, with 
a  curious  interest.  By  what  secret  resource  of  fortitude  and  hope 
was  it  that  he  could  command  so  much  elasticity,  exhibit  so  much 
cheerfulness,  bear  with  so  much  meekness,  and  utter  no  com- 
plaint. He  wondered  that  the  irksome  duties  which  he  studiously 
thrust  upon  him,  and  the  frequently  brutal  language  with  which 
his  performances  were  acknowledged,  seemed  to  produce  none 
of  the  cruel  effects  which  he  desired.  His  victim  grew  neither 
sad  nor  sullen.  His  violin  still  was  heard  resounding  merrily  at 


66  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 


the  instance  of  his  comrades ;  and  still  his  hearty,  whole-souled 
laughter  rang  over  the  encampment,  smiting  ungraciously  upon 
the  senses  of  his  basely-minded  chief.  In  vain  did  this  despot 
study  how  to  increase  and  frame  new  annoyances  for  his  subor- 
dinate. His  tyranny  contrived  daily  some  new  method  to  make 
the  poor  fellow  unhappy.  But,  consoled  by  the  peculiar  secret 
which  he  possessed,  of  sympathy  and  comfort,  the  worthy  drum- 
mer bore  up  cheerfully  under  his  afflictions.  He  was  resolved  to 
wait  patiently  the  return  of  Ribault  with  the  promised  supplies 
for  the  colony,  and  meanwhile  to  submit  to  his  evil  destiny  with- 
out a  murmur.  It  was  always  with  a  secret  sense  of  triumph 
that  he  reminded  himself  of  the  near  neighborhood  of  his  joys, 
and  he  exulted  in  the  success  with  which  he  could  baffle  nightly 
the  malice  of  his  superior.  But,  however  docile,  the  patience 
and  forbearance  of  Guernache  availed  him  little.  They  did  not 
tend  to  mitigate  the  annoyances  which  he  was  constantly  com- 
pelled to  endure.  We  are  now  to  recall  a  portion  of  the  preceding 
narrative,  and  to  remind  our  reader  of  the  visit  which  Captain 
Albert  paid  to  the  territories  of  Ouade,  and  the  generous  hospi- 
talities of  the  King  thereof.  Guernache  had  been  one  of  the 
party,  and  the  absence  of  several  days  had  been  a  serious  loss  to 
him  in  the  delightful  intercourse  with  his  dusky  bride.  He  might 
naturally  hope,  after  his  return  from  a  journey  so  fatiguing,  to  be 
permitted  a  brief  respite  from  his  regular  duties.  But  this  was 
not  according  to  the  policy  of  his  malignant  superior.  Some 
hours  were  consumed  after  arriving  at  the  fort,  in  disposing  of  the 
provisions  which  had  been  obtained.  In  this  labor  Guernache 
had  been  compelled  to  partake  with  others  of  his  companions. 
Whether  it  was  that  he  betrayed  an  unusual  degree  of  eagerness 
in  getting  through  his  task — showing  an  impatience  to  escape 


THE   LEGEND   OF   GUERNACHE.  67 

which  his  enemy  detected  and  resolved  to  baffle,  cannot  now  be 
said  ;  but  to  his  great  annoyance  and  indignation,  he  was  bur- 
dened with  a  portion  of  the  watch  for  the  night — a  duty  which 
was  clearly  incumbent  only  upon  those  who  had  not  shared  in  the 
fatigues  of  the  expedition.  But  to  expostulate  or  repine  was 
alike  useless,  and  Guernache  submitted  to  his  destiny  with  the 
best  possible  grace.  The  provisions  were  stored,  the  gates  closed, 
the  watches  set,  and  the  garrison  sunk  to  sleep,  leaving  our 
unhappy  musician  to  pace,  for  several  hours,  the  weary  watch 
along  the  ramparts.  How  he  looked  forth  into  the  dense  forests 
which  harbored  his  Monaletta  !  How  he  thought  of  the  weary 
watch  she  kept !  What  were  her  fears,  her  anxieties  ?  Did  she 
know  of  his  return  ?  Did  she  look  for  his  coming  ?  The  garrison 
slept — the  woods  were  mysteriously  silent !  How  delightful  it 
would  be  to  surprise  her  in  the  midst  of  her  dreams,  and  answer 
to  her  murmurs  of  reproach — uttered  in  the  sweetest  fragmen- 
tary Gallic — "  Monaletta !  I  am  here !  Here  is  your  own 
Guernache  !" 

The  temptation  was  perilously  sweet !  The  suggestion  was 
irresistible  ;  and,  in  a  moment  of  excited  fancy  and  passion, 
Guernache  laid  down  his  piece,  and  leaped  the  walls  of  the  for- 
tress. He  committed  an  unhappy  error  to  enjoy  a  great  happiness, 
for  which  the  penalties  were  not  slow  to  come.  In  the  dead  of 
midnight,  the  garrison,  still  in  a  deep  sleep,  they  were  suddenly 
aroused  in  terror  by  the  appalling  cry  of  "  fire  !"  The  fort,  the 
tenements  in  which  they  slept,  the  granary,  which  had  just  been 
stored  with  their  provisions,  were  all  ablaze,  and  our  Frenchmen 
woke  in  confusion  and  terror,  unknowing  where  to  turn,  how  to 
work,  or  what  to  apprehend.  Their  military -stores  were  saved — • 
their  powder  and  munitions  of  war — but  the  "  mils  and  beanes," 


68  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

SO  recently  acquired  from  the  granaries  of  King  Ouade,  with  the 
building  that  contained  them,  were  swept  in  ashes  to  the  ground. 
This  disaster,  full  of  evil  in  itself,  was  productive  of  others,  as 
it  led  to  the  partial  discovery  of  the  secret  of  our  drummer. 
Guernache  was  not  within  the  fort  when  the  alarm  was  given.  It 
is  not  improbable  that,  had  he  not  left  his  post,  the  conflagration 
would  have  been  arrested  in  time  to  save  the  fort  and  its  provi- 
sions. His  absence  was  noted,  and  he  was  discovered,  approach- 
ing from  the  forests,  by  those  who  bore  forth  the  goods  as  they 
were  rescued  from  the  flames.  These  were  mostly  friends  of 
Guernache,  who  would  have  maintained  a  generous  silence  ;  but, 
unhappily,  Pierre  Benaud  was  also  one  of  the  discoverers.  This 
person  not  only  bore  him  no  good  will, — though  gratitude  for  the 
service  rendered  him  at  the  feast  of  Toya  should  have  bound  him 
forever  to  the  cause  of  Guernache, — but  he  was  one  who  had  be- 
come a  gross  sycophant  and  the  mere  creature  of  the  governor. 
He  knew  the  hatred  which  the  latter  bore  to  Guernache,  and  a 
sympathizing  nature  led  him  promptly  to  divine  the  cause.  Over- 
joyed with  the  discovery  which  he  had  made,  the  base  fellow  im- 
mediately carried  the  secret  to  his  master,  and  when  the  first  con- 
fusion was  over,  which  followed  the  disaster,  Guernache  was  taken 
into  custody,  and  a  day  assigned  for  his  trial  as  a  criminal.  To 
him  was  ascribed  the  fire  as  well  as  desertion  from  his  post.  The 
latter  fact  was  unquestionable — the  former  was  inferred.  It 
might  naturally  be  assumed,  indeed,  that,  if  the  watch  had  not 
been  abandoned,  the  flames  could  not  have  made  such  fearful 
headway.  It  was  fortunate  for  our  Frenchmen  that  the  inter- 
course maintained  with  the  Indians  had  been  of  such  friendly 
character.  With  the  first  intimation  of  their  misfortune,  the 
kings,  Audusta  and  Maccou,  bringing  with  them  a  numerous  train 


THE    FIRST   VOYAGE    OP    RIBAULT.  69 

of  followers,  came  to  assist  them  in  the  labor  of  restoration  and 
repair.     "  They  uttered  unto  their  subjects  the  speedy  diligence 
which  they  were  to  use  in  building  another  house,  showing  unto 
them  that  the  Frenchmen  were  their  loving  friends  and  that  they 
had  made  it  evident  unto  them  by  the  gifts  and  presents  which 
they  had  received ; — protesting  that  he  whosoever  put  not  his 
helping  hand  to  the  worke  with  all  his  might,  should  be  esteemed 
as  unprofitable."     The  entreaties  and  commands  of  the  two  kings 
were  irresistible.     But  for  this,  our  Huguenots,  "  being  farre  from 
all  succours,  and  in  such  extremitie,"  would  have  been,  in  the 
language  of  their  own  chronicler,  "  quite  and  cleane  out  of  all 
hope."    The  Indians  went  with  such  hearty  good  will  to  the  work, 
and  in  such  numbers,  that,  in  less  than  twelve  hours,  the  losses 
of  the  colonists  were  nearly  all  repaired.     New  houses  were  built ; 
new  granaries  erected  ;   and,  among  the  fabrics  of  this  busy  pe- 
riod, it  was  not  forgotten  to  construct  a  keep — a  close,  dark, 
heavy  den  of  logs,  designed  as  a  prison,  into  which,  as  soon  as  his 
[ndian  friends  had  departed,  our  poor  fiddler,  Gruernache,  was 
:hrust,  neck  and  heels  !     The  former  were  rewarded  and  went 
;  iway  well  satisfied  with  what  they  had  seen  and  done.     They  little 
i  Conjectured  the  troubles  which  awaited  their  favorite.     He  was 
;  oon  brought  to  trial  under  a  number  of  charges — disobedience  of 
rders,  neglect  of  duty,  desertion  of  his  post,  and  treason  !     To 
11  of  these,  the  poor  fellow  pleaded  "  not  guilty  ;"  and,  with  one 
xception,  with  a  good  conscience.     But  he  had  not  the  courage 
)  confess  the  truth,  and  to  declare  where  he  had  been,  and  on 
-hat  mission,  when  he  left  the  fort,  on  the  night  of  the  fire.     He 
ad  committed  a  great  fault,  the  consequences  of  which  were 
srious,  and  might  have  been  still  more  so ;  and  the  pleas  of  in- 
triable  good  conduct,  in  his  behalf,  and  the  assertion  of  his  inno- 


70 


THE   LILY  AND   THE   TOTEM. 


cencc  of  all  evil  intention,  did  not  avail.  His  judges  were  not  his 
friends;  lie  was  found  guilty  and  remanded  to  his  dungeon,  to 
await  the  farther  caprices  and  the  judgment  of  his  enemy. 


VI. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  GUERNACHE.— CHAP.  IV. 

THE    DUNGEON    AND    THE   SCOURGE; 

Being  the  continuation  of  the  melancholy  Legend  of  Guernache. 

THE  absence  of  Guernache  from  his  usual  place  of  meeting 
with  Monaletta,  brought  the  most  impatient  apprehension  to  the 
heart  of  the  devoted  woman.  As  the  time  wore  away — as  night 
after  night  passed  without  his  coming,  she  found  the  suspense 
unendurable,  and  gradually  drew  nigh  to  the  fortress  of  the 
Huguenots.  More  than  once  had  he  cautioned  her  against  in- 
curring a  peril  equally  great  to  them  both.  But  her  heart  was 
already  too  full  of  fears  to  be  restrained  by  such  dangers  as  he 
alone  could  have  foreseen ;  and  she  now  lurked  about  the  fort  at 
nightfall,  and  continued  to  hover  around  long  after  dawn,  keep- 
ing watch  upon  its  walls  and  portal.  So  close  and  careful,  how- 
ever, was  this  watch,  that  she  herself  remained  undetected. 
One  day,  however,  to  her  great  satisfaction,  one  of  the  inmates 
came  forth  whom  she  knew  to  be  a  friend  and  associate  of  Guer- 
nache. This  was  one  Lachane,  affectionately  called  La,  Chere* 

*  The  names  are  thus  written  by  Laudonniere  in  Hakluyt;  But  in 
Charlevoix  there  is  only  one  given  to  this  personage,  and  that  is  "  La- 


72  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

by  the  soldiery,  by  whom  he  was  very  much  beloved.  Lachane 
was  a  sergeant,  a  good  soldier,  brave  as  a  lion,  but  with  as  tender 
a  heart,  when  the  case  required  it,  as  ever  beat  in  human  bosom. 
He  had  long  since  learned  to  sympathize  with  the  fate  of  Guer- 
nache,  and  had  made  frequent  attempts  to  mollify  the  hostile 
feelings  of  his  captain,  in  behalf  of  his  friend.  To  the  latter  he 
had  given  much  good  counsel ;  and,  but  for  his  earnest  entrea- 
ties and  injunctions,  he  would  have  revealed  to  Albert  the  true 
reason  for  the  absence  of  Guernache  from  his  post.  But  Guer- 
nache  dreaded,  as  well  he  might,  that  the  revelation  would  only 
increase  the  hate  and  rage  of  his  superior,  and,  perhaps,  draw 
down  a  portion*  of  his  vengeance  upon  the  head  of  the  unoffend- 
ing woman.  Lachane  acquiesced  in  his  reasoning,  and  was 
silent.  But  he  was  not  the  less  active  in  bringing  consolation, 
whenever  he  could,  to  the  respective  parties.  He  afforded  to 
Monaletta,  whose  approach  to  the  fort  he  suspected,  an  oppor- 
tunity of  meeting  with  him ;  and  their  interviews,  once  begun, 
were  regularly  continued.  Day  by  day  he  contrived  to  convey 
to  her  the  messages,  and  to  inform  her  of  the  condition  of  the 
prisoner ;  to  whom,  in  turn,  he  bore  all  necessary  intelligence, 
and  every  fond  avowal  which  was  sent  by  Monaletta.  But  the 
loving  and  devoted  wife  was  not  satisfied  with  so  frigid  a  mode 
of  intercourse ;  and,  in  an  evil  hour,  Lachane,  whose  own  heart 
was  too  tender  to  resist  the  entreaties  of  one  so  fond,  was  per- 
suaded to  admit  her  within  the  fort,  and  into  the  dungeon  of 
Guernache.  We  may  censure  his  prudence  and  hers,  but  who 
shall  venture  to  condemn  either  ?  The  first  visit  led  to  a  second, 
the  second  to  a  third,  and,  at  length,  the  meetings  between  the 
lovers  took  place  nightly.  Lachane,  often  entreating,  often  ex- 
horting, was  yet  always  complying.  Monaletta  was  admitted 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  73 

at  midnight,  and  conducted  forth  by  the  dawn  in  safety ;  and 
thus  meeting,  Guernache  soon  forgot  his  own  danger,  and  was 
readily  persuaded  by  Monaletta  to  believe  that  she  stood  in 
none.  The  hours  passed  with  them  as  with  any  other  children, 
who,  sitting  on  the  shores  of  the  sea,  in  the  bright  sunset,  see 
not  the  rising  of  the  waters,  and  feel  not  the  falling  of  the  night, 
until  they  are  wholly  overwhelmed.  They  were  happy,  and  in 
their  happiness  but  too  easily  forgot  that  there  was  such  a  person 
as  Captain  Albert  in  their  little  paradise. 

But  the  pitcher  which  goes  often  to  the  well,  is  at  last  broken. 
They  were  soon  destined  to  realize  the  proverb  in  their  own 
experience.  Something  in  the  movements  of  Lachane,  awakened 
the  suspicions  of  Pierre  Renaud,  whose  active  hostility  to  Guer- 
nache has  been  shown  already.  This  man  now  bore  within  the 
fortress  the  unenviable  reputation  of  being  the  captain's  spy  upon 
the  people.  This  miserable  creature,  his  suspicion's  once 
awakened,  soon  addressed  all  his  abilities  to  the  task  of  detecting 
the  connection  of  Lachane  with  his  prisoner ;  and  it  was  not 
long  before  he  had  the  malignant  satisfaction  of  seeing  him 
accompany  another  into  the  dungeon  of  Guernache.  Though  it 
was  after  midnight  when  the  discovery  was  made,  it  was  of  a  kind 
too  precious  to  suffer  delay  in  revealing  it,  and  he  hurried  at  once 
to  the  captain's  quarters,  well  aware  that,  with  such  intelligence 
as  he  brought,  he  might  safely  venture  to  disturb  him  at  any 
hour.  But  his  eagerness  did  not  lessen  his  caution,  and  every 
step  was  taken  with  the  greatest  deliberation  and  care.  Albert 
was  immediately  aroused  ;  but,  unwilling,  by  a  premature  alarm, 
to  afford  the  offenders  an  opportunity  to  escape,  or  to  place 
themselves  in  any  situation  to  defy  scrutiny,  some  time  was  lost 
in  making  arrangements.  The  progress  of  Albert,  and  his 
4 


74  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

satellites,  going  the  rounds,  was  circuitous.  The  sentries  were 
doubled  with  singular  secrecy  and  skill.  Such  soldiers  as  were 
conceived  to  be  most  particularly  bound  to  him,  were  awakened, 
and  placed  in  positions  most  convenient  for  action  and  observa- 
tion ; — for  Albert  and  Renaud,  alike,  conscious  as  it  would  seem 
of  their  own  demerits,  had  come  to  suspect  many  of  the  soldiers 
of  treachery  and  insurrection.  These,  perhaps,  are  always  the 
fears  most  natural  to  a  tyranny.  Accordingly,  with  everything 
prepared  for  an  explosion  of  the  worst  description,  Captain  Albert, 
in  complete  armor,  made  his  appearance,  upon  the  scene. 

Meantime,  however,  the  proceedings  of  Renaud  had  not  been 
carried  on  without,  at  length,  commanding  the  attention  and 
awakening  the  fears  of  so  good  a  soldier  as  Lachane.  Having 
discovered,  on  his  rounds,  that  the  guards  were  doubled,  and  that 
the  sentinel  at  the  sally-port  had  not  only  received  a  companion, 
but  that  the  individual  by  whom  Monaletta  had  been  admitted 
was  now  removed  to  make  way  for  another,  he  hurried  away  to 
the  dungeon  of  Guernache.  Here,  whispering  hurriedly  his 
apprehensions,  he  endeavored  to  hasten  the  departure  of  the 
Indian  woman.  But  his  efforts  were  made  too  late.  He  was 
arrested,  even  while  thus  busied,  by  the  Commandant  himself, 
who,  followed  by  Renaud  and  two  other  soldiers,  suddenly  came 
upon  him  from  the  rear  of  the  building,  where  they  had  been 
harboring  in  ambush.  Lachane  was  taken  into  immediate  custody. 
An  uproar  followed,  the  alarm  was  given  to  the  garrison,  torches 
were  brought,  and  Guernache,  with  the  devoted  Moualetta,  were 
dragged. forth  together  from  the  dungeon.  She  was  wrapped  up 
closely  in  the  cloak  of  Lachane,  but  when  Renaud  waved  a  torch 
before  her  eyes,  in  order  to  discover  who  she  was,  she  boldly 
threw  aside  the  disguise,  and  stood  revealed  to  the  malignant 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  75 

scrutiny  of  the  astonished  but  delighted  despot.  Upon  beholding 
her,  the  fury  of  Albert  knew  no  bounds.  The  secret  of  Guer- 
nache  was  now  apparent ;  and  the  man  whose  vanity  she  had 
outraged,  by  preferring  another  in  the  dance,  was  now  in  full 
possession  of  the  power  to  revenge  himself  upon  both  offenders. 
In  that  very  moment,  remembering  his  mortification,  he  formed 
a  resolution  of  vengeance,  which  declared  all  the  venom  of  a 
mean  and  malignant  nature.  He  needed  no  art  beyond  his  own 
to  devise  an  ingenious  torture  for  his  victim.  A  few  words  suf- 
ficed to  instruct  the  willing  Renaud  in  the  duty  of  the  executioner. 
He  commanded  that  the  Indian  woman  should  be  scourged  from 
the  fort  in  the  presence  of  the  garrison.  Then  it  was  that  the 
sullen  soul  of  Guernache  shuddered  and  succumbed  beneath  his 
tortures.  With  husky  and  trembling  accents,  he  appealed  to  his 
tyrant  in  behalf  of  the  woman  of  his  heart. 

"  Oh  !  Captain  Albert,  as  you  are  a  man,  do  not  this  cruel 
thing.  Monaletta  is  innocent  of  any  crime  but  that  of  loving 
one  so  worthless  as  Guernache.  She  is  my  wife  !  Do  with  me 
as  you  will,  but  spare  her — have  mercy  on  the  innocent  woman !" 

"  Ah  !  you  can  humble  yourself  now,  insolent.     I  have  found 
the  way,  at  last,  to  make  you  feel.     You  shall  feel  yet  more.     I 
will  crush  you  to  the  dust.     What,  ho  !  there,  Pierre  Renaud !  • 
Have  I  not  said  ?  the  lash  !  the  lash  !     Wherefore  do  ye  linger  ?" 

"  Do  not,  Captain  Albert !  I  implore  you,  for  your  own  sake, 
do  not  lay  the  accursed  lash  upon  this  young  and  innocent  crea- 
ture. Remember  !  She  is  a  woman — a  princess — a  blood  rela- 
tion of  our  good  friend,  King  Audusta.  Upon  me — upon  my 
back  bestow  the  punishment,  but  spare  her — spare  her,  in 
mercy!" 

But  the  prayers  and  supplications  of  the  wretched  man  were 


76  THH    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

met  only  by  denunciation  and  scorn.  The  base  nature  of  Albert 
felt  only  his  own  mortification.  His  appetite  for  revenge  dark- 
ened his  vision  wholly.  He  saw  neither  his  policy  nor  humanity ; 
and  the  creatures  of  his  will  were  not  permitted  to  hesitate  in 
carrying  out  his  brutal  resolution.  Armed  with  little  hickories 
from  the  neighboring  woods,  they  awaited  but  his  command,  and 
with  its  repeated  utterance,  the  lash  descended  heavily  upon  the 
uncovered  shoulders  of  the  unhappy  woman.  With  the  first  stroke, 
she  bounded  from  the  earth  with  a  piercing  shriek,  at  once  of 
entreaty,  of  agony,  and  horror.  Up  to  this  moment,  neither  she, 
nor,  indeed,  any  of  the  spectators,  except  Renaud,  and  possibly 
Guernache  himself,  had  imagined  that  Albert  would  put  in  execu- 
tion a  purpose  so  equally  impolitic  and  cruel.  But  when  the  blow 
fell  upon  the  almost  fair  and  *  naked  shoulders  of  the  woman — 
when  her  wild,  girlish,  almost  childlike  shriek  rent  the  air,  then 
the  long  suppressed  agonies  of  Guernache  broke  forth  in  a  passion 
of  fury  that  looked  more  like  the  excess  of  the  madman  than  the 
mere  ebullition,  however  intense,  of  a  simply  desperate  man. 
He  had  struggled  long  at  endurance.  He  had  borne,  hitherto, 
without  flinching,  everything  in  the  shape  of  penalty  which 
his  petty  tyrant  could  fasten  upon  him — much  more,  indeed, 
than  the  ordinary  nature,  vexed  with  frequent  injustice,  is 
willing  to  endure.  But,  in  the  fury  and  agony  of  that 
humiliating  moment,  all  restraints  of  prudence  or  fear  were 
forgotten,  or  trampled  under  foot.  He  flung  himself  loose  from 
the  men  who  held  him,  and  darting  upon  the  individual  by  whom 
the  merciless  blow  had  been  struck,  he  felled  him  to  the  earth  by 
a  single  blow  of  his  Herculean  fist.  But  he  was  permitted  to  do 
no  more.  In  another  instant,  grappled  by  a  dozen  powerful 
arms,  he  was  borne  to  the  earth,  and  secured  with  cords  which 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  77 

not  only  bound  his  limbs  but  were  drawn  so  tightly  as  to  cut  re- 
morselessly into  the  flesh.     Here  he  lay,  and  his  agony  may  be  far 
more  easily  conceived  than  described,  thus  compelled  to  behold 
the  further  tortures  of  the  woman  of  his  heart,  without   being 
able  to  struggle  and  to  die  in  her  defence.     His  own  tortures 
were  forgotten,  as  he  witnessed  hers.     In  vain  would  his  ears  have 
rejected  the  terrible  sound,  stroke  upon  stroke,  which  testified  th« 
continuance   of  this   brutal  outrage  upon   humanity.     "Without 
mercy  was  the  punishment  bestowed;  and,  bleeding  at  every 
blow     from  the  biting  scourge,  the  wretched  innocent  was  at 
length  tortured  out  of  the  garrison.     But  with  that  first  shriek 
to  which   she  gave  utterance,  and  which  declared  rather  the 
mental   horror   than   the   bodily  pain  which   she   suffered  from 
such  a  cruel  degradation,  she  ceased  any  longer  to  acknowledge 
her  suffering.     Oh  !  very  powerful  for  endurance  is  the  strength 
of  a  loving  heart!     The  rest  of  the  punishment  she  bore  with 
the  silence  of  one  who  suffers  martyrdom  in  the  approving  eye  of 
heaven ;  as  if,  beholding  the  insane  agonies  of  Guernache,  she 
had  steeled  herself  to  bear  with  any  degree  of  torture  rather 
than  increase  his  sufferings  by  her  complaints.     In  this  manner, 
and  thus  silent  under  her  own  pains,  she  was  expelled  from  the 
fortress.     She  was  driven  to  the  margin  of  the   cleared  space  by 
which  it  was  surrounded.     She  heard  the  shouts  which  drove  her 
thence,  and  heard  nothing  farther.     She  had  barely  strength  to 
totter  forward,  like  the  deer  with  a  mortal  hurt,  to  the  secret  cover 
of  the  forest,  when  she  sank  down  in  exhaustion  ; — nature  kindly 
interposing  with  insensibility,  to  save  her  from  those  physical 
sufferings  which  she  could  no  longer  feel  and  live  ! 

With  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  Guernache  was  brought 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Albert.     The  charges  were  sum- 


78  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

ciently  serious  under  which  he  was  arraigned.  Ho  had  neglected 
his  duty — had  permitted,  if  not  caused,  the  destruction  of  the 
fort  by  fire — had  violated  the  laws,  resisted  their  execution,  and 
used  violence  against  the  officer  of  justice  !  In  this  last  proven 
offence  all  of  these  which  had  been  alleged  were  assumed  against 
him.  He  was  convicted  by  the  rapid  action  of 'his  superior,  as  a 
traitor  and  a  mutineer ;  and,  to  the  horror  of  his  friends,  and  the 
surprise  of  all  his  comrades,  was  'condemned  to  expiate  his  faults 
by  death  upon  the  gallows.  Few  of  the  garrison  had  anticipated 
so  sharp  a  judgment.  They  knew  that  Gruernache  had  been 
faulty,  but  they  also  knew  what  had  been  his  provocations.  They 
felt  that  his  faults  had  been  the  fruit  of  the  injustice  under  which 
he  suffered.  But  they  dared  not  interpose.  The  prompt  severity 
with  which  Captain  Albert  carried  out  his  decisions — the  merciless 
character  of  his  vindictiveness — discouraged  even  remonstrance. 
Guernache,  as  we  have  shown,  was  greatly  beloved,  and  had  many 
true  friends  among  his  people  ;  but  they  were  taken  by  surprise  ; 
and,  so  much  stunned  and  confounded  by  the  rapidity  with  which 
events  had  taken  place,  that  they  could  only  look  on  the  terrible 
proceedings  with  a  mute  and  self-reproachful  horror.  The  transi- 
tion from  the  seat  of  judgment  to  the  place  of  execution  was 
instantaneous.  Gruernache  appealed  in  vain  to  the  justice  of 
Ribault,  whose  coming  from  France  was  momently  expected. 
This  denied,  he  implored  the  less  ignoble  doom  of  the  sword  or 
the  shot,  in  place  of  that  upon  the  scaffold.  But  it  did  not  suit 
the  mean  malice  of  Albert  to  omit  any  of  his  tortures.  Short 
was  the  shrift  allowed  the  victim  ; — ten  minutes  for  prayer — and 
sure  the  cord  which  stifled  it  forever.  In  deep  horror,  in  a 
hushed  terror,  which  itself  was  full  of  horror,  his  gloomy  com- 
rades gathered  at  the  place  of  execution,  by  the  commands  of 


THE    LEGEND    OF    GUERNACHE.  79 

their  petty  despot.  There  was  no  concert  among  them,  by  which 
the  incipient  indignation  and  fury  in  their  bosoms  might  have  de- 
clared itself  in  rescue  and  commotion.  One  groan,  the  involun- 
tary expression  of  a  terror  that  had  almost  ceased  to  breathe, 
answered  the  convulsive  motion  which  indicated  the  last  struggle 
of  their  beloved  comrade.*  Then  it  was  that  they  began  to  feel 
that  they  could  have  died  for  him,  and  might  have  saved  him. 
But  it  was  now  too  late  ;  and  prudence  timely  interposed  to 
prevent  a  rash  explosion.  The  armed  myrmidons  of  Albert 
were  about  them.  He,  himself,  in  complete  armor,  with  his 
satellite,  Pierre  Renaud,  also  fully  armed,  standing  beside  him  ; 
and  it  was  evident  that  every  preparation  had  been  made  to  quell 
insubordination,  and  punish  the  refractory  with  as  sharp  and 
sudden  a  judgment  as  that  which  had  just  descended  upon  their 
comrade. 

The  poor  Monaletta,  crouching  in  the  cover  of  the  woods, 
recovered  from  her  stupor  in  the  cool  air  of  the  morning,  but  it 
was  sunset  before  she  could  regain  the  necessary  strength  to 
move.  Then  it  was,  that,  with  the  natural  tendency  of  a  loving 
heart,  curious  only  about  the  fate  of  him  for  whom  alone  her 
heart  desired  life,  she  bent  her  steps  towards  that  cruel  fortress 
which  had  been  the  source  of  so  much  misery  to  both.  Very 
feeble  and  slow  was  her  progress,  but  it  was  still  too  rapid ;  it 
brought  her  too  soon  to  a  knowledge  of  that  final  blow  which  fell, 
with  worse  terrors  than  the  scourge,  upon  the  soul.  She  arrived 

*  Says  Charlevoix  : — "  II  pendit  lui-meme  un  soldat,  qui  n'avoit  point 
merite  la  mort,  il  en  degrada  un  autre  des  arms  avec  aussi  peu  de  justice, 
puis  ii  Pexila,  et  Ton  crut  que  son  dessein  etoit  de  le  laisser  mourir  de 
faim  et  de  misere,  etc."  But  we  must  not  anticipate  the  revelations  of  the 
text. 


80  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

in  season  to  behold  the  form  of  the  unfortunate  Guernache, 
abandoned  by  all,  and  totally  lifeless,  waving  in  the  wind  from 
the  branches  of  a  perished  oak,  directly  in  front  of  the  fortress. 
The  deepest  sorrows  of  the  heart  are  those  which  are  born  dumb. 
There  are  some  woes  which  the  lip  can  never  speak,  nor  the  pen 
describe.  There  are  some  agonies  over  which  we  draw  the  veil 
without  daring  to  look  upon  them,  lest  we  freeze  to  stone  in  the 
terrible  inspection.  There  is  no  record  of  that  grief  which 
seized  upon  the  heart  of  the  poor  Indian  woman,  Monaletta,  as 
she  gazed  upon  the  beloved  but  unconscious  form  of  her  husband. 
She  approached  it  not,  though  watching  it  from  sunset  till  the 
gray  twilight  lapsed  away  into  the  denser  shadows  of  the  night. 
But,  with  the  dawn  of  day,  when  the  Frenchmen  looked  forth 
from  the  fortress  for  the  body  of  their  comrade,  it  had  disappeared. 
They  searched  for  it  in  vain.  From  that  day  Monaletta  disap- 
peared also.  She  was  neither  to  be  found  in  the  neighboring 
woods,  nor  among  the  people  of  her  kindred.  But,  long  after- 
wards they  told,  with  shuddering  and  apprehension,  of  a  voice 
upon  the  midnight  air,  which,  resembled  that  of  their  murdered 
comrade,  followed  always  by  the  piercing  shriek  of  a  woman, 
which  reminded  them  of  the  dreadful  utterance  of  the  Indian 
woman,  when  first  smitten  upon  the  shoulders  by  the  lash  of  the 
ruffian.  Thus  endeth  the  legend  of  Guernache,  and  the  Princess 
Monaletta. 


VII, 


LACHANE,  THE  DELIVERER. 

BUT  the  sacrifice  of  Guernache  brought  no  peace  to  the  colony 
Our  Huguenots  were  scarcely  Christians.  They  were  of  a  rude, 
wild  temper,  to  which  the  constant  civil  wars  prevailing  in  France 
had  brought  a  prejudicial  training.  Our  chronicler  tells  us«  no- 
thing of  their  devotions.  We  hear  sometimes  that  they  prayed, 
but  rather  for  the  benefit  of  the  savages  than  their  own.  Their 
public  religious  services  were  ostentatious  ceremonials,  designed  to 
impress  the  red-men  with  an  idea  of  their  superior  faith  and  wor- 
ship. Laudonniere,  who  writes  for  them,  and  was  one  of  their 
number,  seldom  deals  in  a  religious  phraseology,  which  he  might 
reasonably  be  expected  to  have  done  as  one  of  a  people  leaving 
their  homes  for  the  sake  of  conscience.  But  there  is  good  reason 
to  suppose  that,  with  our  Huguenots,  as  in  the  case  of  the  New 
England  Puritans,  the  idea  of  religion  was  more  properly  the  idea 
of  party.  It  was  a  struggle  for  political  power  that  moved  the 
Dissenters,  as  well  in  France  as  England,  quite  as  much  as  any 
feeling  of  denial  or  privation  on  the  score  of  their  religion.  This 
pretext  was  made  to  justify  a  cause  which  might  have  well  found 
its  sanction  in  its  intrinsic  merits ;  but  which  it  was  deemed  politic 

to  urge  on  the  higher  grounds  of  conscience  and  duty  to  God. 

4* 


82  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Certain  it  is  that  we  do  not  anywhere  see,  in  the  history  of  the 
colony  established  by  Coligny,  any  proofs  of  that  strong  devotional 
sentiment  which  has  been  urged  as  the  motive  to  its  estab- 
lishment. Doubtless,  this  was  a  prevailing  motive,  along  with 
others,  for  Coligny  himself;  but  the  adventurers  chosen  to  begin 
the  settlement  for  the  reception  of  the  persecuted  sect  in  Florida, 
were  evidently  not  very  deeply  imbued  with  religion  of  any  kind. 
They  were  a  wild  and  reckless  body  of  men,  whose  deeds  were 
wholly  in  conflict  with  the  pure  and  lovely  profession  of  sentiment 
which  has  been  made  in  their  behalf.  How  far  their  deeds  are  to 
be  justified  by  the  provocations  which  they  received,  and  the  tyr- 
annies which  they  endured,  may  be  a  question ;  but  there  can  be 
no  question  with  regard  to  the  general  temper  which  they  exhi- 
bited— the  tone  of  their  minds — the  feelings  of  their  hearts — by 
all  of  which  they  are  shown  as  stubborn,  insubordinate  and  selfish. 
It  is  not  denied  that  they  had  great  provocation  to  violence  ;  but 
Laudonniere  himself  admits  that  they  were,  in  all  probability, 
"not  so  obedient  to  their  captain  as  they  should  have  been." 
"  Misfortune,"  he  adds,  "  or  rather  the  just  judgment  of  God 
would  have  it  that  those  which  could  not  bee  overcome  by  fire  nor 
water,  should  be  undone  by  their  ownselves.  This  is  the  common 
fashion  of  men,  which  cannot  continue  in  one  state,  and  had 
rather  to  overthrow  themselves,  than  not  to  attempt  some  new 
thing  dayly." 

Not  only  was  no  peace  in  the  colony  after  the  execution  of 
Guernache,  but  the  evil  spirit,  in  the  mood  of  Captain  Albert, 
was  very  far  from  being  laid.  "  His  madness,"  in  the  language 
of  the  chronicler,  "  seemed  to  increase  from  day  to  day."  He 
was  not  content  to  punish  Guernache ;  he  determined  to  extend 
his  severities  to  the  friends  and  associates  of  the  unhappy  victim. 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  83 

Some  of  these  he  only  frowned  upon  and  threatened ;  but  hia 
threats  were  apt  to  be  fulfilled.  Others  he  brought  up  for 
punishment ; — sympathy  with  his  enemy,  being  a  prime  offence 
against  the  dignity  and  safety  of  our  petty  sovereign.  Among 
those  who  had  thus  rendered  themselves  obnoxious,  Lachane  was 
necessarily  a  conspicuous  object.  In  the  same  unwise  and  violent 
spirit  in  which  he  had  pursued  Guernache,  Captain  Albert  was 
determined  to  proceed  against  this  man,  who  was  really  equally 
inoffensive  with  Guernache,  and  quite  as  much  beloved  among 
the  people.  But  the  aspect  of  the  two  cases  was  not  precisely 
the  same.  The  friends  of  Lachane,  warned  by  the  fate  of  Guer- 
nache, were  somewhat  more  upon  their  guard, — more  watchful 
and  suspicious, — and  inclined  to  make  the  support  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  one,  a  tribute  to  the  manes  of  the  other.  Besides, 
Pierre  Renaud,  who  had  some  how  been  the  deadly  enemy  of 
Guernache,  had  no  hostility  to  Lachane.  The  latter,  too,  had 
not  so  singularly  offended  the  amour  propre  of  Captain  Albert, 
by  his  successful  rivalry  among  the  damsels  of  Audusta.  They 
had  not  so  decidedly  shown  the  preference  for  him  as  they  had 
for  the  fiddler,  over  his  superior.  No  doubt  he  was  preferred,  for 
he,  too,  like  Guernache,  was  a  person  very  superior  in  form  and 
physiognomy  to  Albert.  But,  if  they  felt  any  preference  for  the 
former,  they  had  not  so  offensively  declared  it,  as  the  indiscreet 
Monaletta  had  done  ;  and,  with  these  qualifying  circumstances, 
in  his  favor,  Lachane  was  brought  up  for  judgment.  His  offence, 
such  as  it  was,  did  not  admit  of  denial.  Some  palliation  was 
attempted  by  a  reference  to  the  claims  of  Guernache,  the  excel- 
lence of  his  character,  his  usefulness,  and  the  general  favor  he 
had  found  equally  among  the  red-men  and  his  own  people. 
These  suggestions  were  unwisely  made.  They  censured  equally 


84  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  justice  and  the  policy  of  the  tyrant,  and  thus  irritated  anew 
his  self-esteem.  He  thought  himself  exceedingly  merciful, 
accordingly,  in  banishing  the  offender,  whom  it  was  just  as  easy 
and  quite  as  agreeable  to  him,  to  hang.  Lachane  was  accordingly 
sentenced  to  perpetual  exile  to  a  desert  island  along  the  sea.  To 
this  point  he  was  conducted  in  melancholy  state,  by  the  trusted 
creatures  of  the  despot. 

It  is  not  known  to  us  at  the  present  day,  though  the  matter  is 
still,  probably,  within  the  province  of  the  antiquarian,  to  which  of 
the  numerous  sea  islands  of  the  neighborhood  the  unhappy  man 
was  banished.  It  was  one  divided  from  the  colony,  and  from  the 
main,  by  an  arm  of  the  sea  of  such  breadth,  and  so  open  to  the 
most  violent  action  of  the  waves,  that  any  return  of  the  exile  by 
swimming,  or  without  assistance  from  his  comrades,  was  not  ap- 
prehended or  hoped  for.  His  little  desolate  domain  is  described 
as  about  three  leagues  from  Fort  Charles,  as  almost  entirely  bar- 
ren, a  mere  realm  of  sand,  treeless  and  herbless,  without  foliage 
sufficient  to  shelter  from  sun  and  storm,  or  to  provide  against  fa- 
mine by  its  fruits.  Should  this  island  ever  be  identified  with 
that  of  Lachane 's  place  of  exile,  it  should  receive  his  name  to 
the  exclusion  of  every  other. 

Here,  then,  hopeless  and  companionless,  was  the  unhappy  vic- 
tim destined  to  remain,  until  death  should  bring  him  that  escape 
which  the  mercy  of  his  fellows  had  denied.  Yet  he  was  not  to 
be  abandoned  wholly ;  a  certain  pittance  of  provisions  was  allowed 
him  that  he  might  not  absolutely  die  of  famine.  This  allowance 
was  calculated  nicely  against  his  merest  necessities.  It  was  to  be 
brought  him  on  the  return  of  every  eighth  day,  and  this  period 
was  that,  accordingly,  on  which,  alone,  could  he  be  permitted  to 
gaze  upon  the  face  of  a  fellow  being  and  a  countryman. 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  85 

Certainly,  a  more  cruel  punishment,  adopted  in  a  mere  wan- 
ton exercise  of  despotic  power,  could  not  have  been  devised  for 
any  victim  by  the  ingenuity  of  any  superior.  Death,  even  the 
death  by  which  Guernache  had  perished,  had  been  a  doom  more 
merciful ;  for  if,  as  was  the  case,  the  colonists  at  Fort  Charles 
themselves  had  already  begun  to  find  their  condition  of  solitude 
almost  beyond  endurance — if  they,  living  as  they  did  together, 
cheered  by  the  exercise  of  old  sports  and  homely  converse,  the 
ties  and  assurances  of  support  and  friendship,  the  consciousness 
of  strength — duties  which  were  necessary  and  not  irksome,  and 
the  interchange  of  thoughts  which  enliven  the  desponding  tem- 
per ; — if,  with  all  these  resources  in  their  favor,  they  had  sunk 
into  gloomy  discontent,  eager  for  change,  and  anxious  for  the  re- 
turning vessels  of  Ribault,  that  they  might  abandon  for  their  old, 
the  new  home  which  they  found  so  desolate ;  what  must  have 
been  the  sufferings  and  agonies  of  him  whom  they  had  thus  ban- 
ished, even  from  such  solace  as  they  themselves  possessed — un- 
cheered  even  by  the  familiar  faces  and  the  well-known  voices  of 
his  fellows,  and  deprived  of  all  the  resources  whereby  ingenuity 
might  devise  some  methods  of  relief,  and  totally  unblessed  by  any 
of  those  exercises  which  might  furnish  a  substitute  for  habitual 
employments.  No  sentence,  more  than  this,  could  have  shown 
to  our  Frenchmen  so  completely  the  utter  absence  of  sympathy 
between  themselves  and  their  commander;  could  have  shown  how 
slight  was  the  value  which  he  put  upon  their  lives,  and  with  what 
utter  contempt  he  regarded  their  feelings  and  affections.  Albert 
little  drqamed  how  actively  he  was  at  work,  while  thus  feeding  his 
morbid  passions,  in  arousing  the  avenging  spirit  by  which  they 
were  to  be  scourged  and  punished. 

These  rash  and  cruel  proceedings  of  their  chief  produced  a 


86  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

great  and  active  sensation  among  the  colonists — a  sensation  not 
the  less  deep  and  active,  because  a  sense  of  their  own  danger  kept 
them  from  its  open  expression.  Had  Albert  pardoned  Lachane, 
or  let  him  off  with  some  slight  punishment,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  matter  would  have  ended  there  ;  and  the  cruel  proceed- 
ings against  Guernache  might  have  been  forgiven  if  not  forgotten. 
But  these  were  kept  alive  by  those  which  followed  against  their 
other  favorite ;  and  some  of  the  boldest,  feeling  how  desperate 
their  condition  threatened  to  become,  now  ventured  to  expostu- 
late with  their  superior  upon  his  wanton  and  unwise  severities. 
But  they  were  confounded  to  find  that  they  themselves  incurred 
the  danger  of  Lachane,  in  the  attempt  to  plead  against  it.  It 
was  one  of  the  miserable  weaknesses  in  the  character  of  Captain 
Albert,  to  suppose  his  authority  in  danger  whenever  he  was  ap- 
proached with  the  language  of  expostulation.  To  question  his 
justice  seemed  to  him  to  defy  his  power — to  entreat  for  mercy, 
such  a  showing  of  hostility  as  to  demand  punishment  also.  He 
resented,  as  an  impertinence  to  himself,  all  such  approaches  ;  and 
his  answer  to  the  prayers  of  his  people  was  couched  in  the  lan- 
guage of  contumely  and  threat.  They  retired  from  his  presence 
accordingly,  with  feelings  of  increased  dislike  and  disgust,  and 
with  a  discontent  which  was  the  more  dangerous  as  they  suc- 
ceeded most  effectually  in  controlling  its  exhibition. 

But  if  such  was  the  state  of  the  relations  between  Albert  and 
his  people,  how  much  worse  did  they  become,  when,  at  the  close 
the  first  eighth  day  after  the  banishment  of  Lachane,  it  was  discov- 
ered that  the  orders  for  providing  him  with  the  allowance  of  food 
had  been  suspended,  or  countermanded.  The  captain  was  silent ; 
and  no  one,  unless  at  his  bidding,  could  venture  to  carry  the 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  87 

poor  exile  his  allotted  pittance.  The  eighth  day  passed.  The 
men  murmured  among  themselves,  and  their  murmurs  soon  en- 
couraged the  utterance  of  a  "bolder  voice.  Nicholas  Barre,  a 
man  of  great  firmness  and  intelligence,  one  of  their  number,  at 
length  presented  himself  before  the  captain.  He  boldly  reminded 
him  of  the  condition  of  Lachane,  and  urged  him  to  hasten  his 
supplies  of  food  before  he  perished.  But  the  self-esteem  and 
consequence  of  Albert,  under  provocation,  became  a  sort  of  mad- 
ness. He  answered  the  suggestion  with  indignity  and  insult. 

"Begone!"  he  exclaimed,  "and  trouble  me  no  more  with 
your  complaints.  What  is  it  to  me  if  the  scoundrel  does  perish  ? 
I  mean  that  he  shall  perish  !  He  deserves  his  fate  !  I  shall  be 
glad  when  ye  can  tell  me  that  he  no  longer  needs  his  allowance. 
Away  !  you  deserve  a  like  punishment.  Let  me  hear  another 
word  on  this  subject,  and  the  offender  shall  share  his  fate  !" 

The  insulting  answer  was  accompanied  by  all  the  tokens 
of  brute  anger  and  severity.  The  most  furious  oaths  suf- 
ficed equally  to  show  his  insanity  and  earnestness.  His,  in- 
deed, was  now  an  insanity  such  as  seizes  usually  upon  those 
whom  God  is  preparing  for  destruction.  Barre  deemed  it  only 
prudent  to  retire  from  the  presence  of  a  rage  which  it  was  no 
longer  politic  to  provoke  ;  but,  in  his  soul,  the  purpose  was 
already  taking  form  and  strength,  which  contemplated  resistance 
to  a  tyranny  so  wild  and  reckless.  He  was  not  alone  in  this 
purpose.  The  sentiment  of  resistance  and  disaffection  was 
growing  all  around  him,  and  it  only  needed  one  who  should 
embody  it  for  successful  exercise.  But,  for  this,  time  was  requi- 
site. To  decide  for  action,  on  the  part  of  a  conspiracy,  it  is 
first  required  that  what  is  the  common  sentiment  shall  become 
the  common  necessity. 


88  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

u  Meanwhile,"  said  Barre,  "  our  poor  comrade  must  not 
starve !" 

This  was  said  to  certain  of  his  associates  when  they  met  that 
night  in  secret.  When  two  or  three  get  together  to  complain  of 
a  tyranny,  resistance  is  already  begun.  They  echoed  his  senti- 
ments, and  arrangements  were  at  once  made  for  transmitting  pro- 
visions to  the  exile.  A  canoe  was  procured  for  this  purpose, 
and  Barre,  with  one  other  comrade,  set  forth  secretly  at  mid- 
night on  their  generous  and  perilous  mission. 

The  night  was  calm  and  beautiful — the  sea,  unruffled  by  a 
breeze,  lay  smooth  as  a  mirror  between  the  lonely  island  and  the 
main.  Though  barren,  and  without  shrub  or  tree,  the  island 
looked  lovely  also — a  very  realm  of  faery,  in  the  silver  smiling 
of  the  moon.  With  active  and  sinewy  limbs,  cheered  by  the 
sight,  our  adventurous  comrades  pulled  towards  it,  reaching  it 
with  little  effort,  the  current  favoring  their  course.  What,  how- 
ever, was  their  surprise  and  consternation,  when,  on  reaching  the 
islet,  there  was  no  answer  to  their  summons.  Drawing  their 
boat  upon  the  shore,  they  soon  compassed  the  little  empire  with 
hasty  footsteps  ;  but  they  found  nothing  of  the  exile.  The  islet 
lay  bare  and  bright  in  the  unshadowed  moonlight,  so  that, whe- 
ther asleep  or  dead,  his  prostrate  form  must  still  have  been 
perceptible.  What  bewildering  imaginations  seized  upon  the 
seekers  ?  What  had  become  of  their  comrade  ?  Had  he  been 
carried  off  by  the  savages,  by  a  foreign  vessel,  or,  in  his  des- 
peration, had  he  cast  himself  into  the  devouring  sea  ?  What 
more  probable  ?  Yet,  as  there  was  no  answer  to  their  question- 
ing, there  was  no  solution  of  their  doubts.  Hopeless  of  his  fate, 
after  a  frequent  and  a  weary  search,  and  dreading  the  worst,  they 
re-entered  their  canoe,  and  re-crossed  the  bay  in  safety — their 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  89 

hearts  more  than  ever  filled  with  disgust  and  indignation  at  the 
cruelty  and  malice  of  their  commander.  • 

But  their  quest  was  not  wholly  hopeless.  When  they  had 
reached  the  main,  and  while  approaching  the  garrison,  they  were 
greatly  surprised  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  human  form 
between  the  fortress  and  the  river.  They  remembered  the  poor 
Guernache,  and,  for  a  moment,  a  fearful  superstition  fastened 
upon  their  hearts.  At  first,  the  fugitive  seemed  to  be  approach- 
ing them  ;  but,  in  an  instant,  wheeling  about,  as  if  in  panic,  he 
darted  into  the  woods,  and  sought  concealment  in  the  thicket. 
This  re-inspired  them.  They  gave  chase  instantly.  The  efforts 
of  the  pursued  were  feebly  made,  and  they  soon  overtook  him. 
To  their  great  relief  and  surprise,  they  found  him  to  be  the  per- 
son they  had  been  seeking — the  banished  and  half-starved  La- 
chane  ! 

His  story  was  soon  told.  He  was  nearly  perished  of  hunger. 
Beyond  the  crude  berries  and  bitter  roots  which  he  had  gathered 
in  the  woods,  he  had  not  eaten  for  three  days.  The  food  which 
had  been  furnished  him  from  the  garrison  had  been  partly  carried 
from  him  by  birds  or  beasts — he  knew  not  which — while  he 
slept ;  and,in  the  failure  of  his  promised  supplies,he  had  become 
desperate. 

"  For  that  matter,"  said  the  wretched  exile,  "  I  had  become 
desperate  before.  Food  was  not  my  only  or  my  chief  want.  I 
wanted  shade  from  the  desolating  sun.  I  wanted  rescue  from 
the  heavy  hand  of  fire  upon  my  brain ;  and,  by  day,  I  could 
scarcely  keep  from  quenching  the  furnace  that  seemed  boiling  in 
my  blood,  by  plunging  deep  down  into  the  bowels  of  the  sea.  By 
night,  when  the  fiery  feeling  passed  away,  then  I  yearned,  above 
all,  for  the  face  and  voice  of  man.  It  was  this  craving  whic1 


90  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

made  me  resolve  to  brave  the  death  which  threatened  me  which- 
ever way  I  turned — that,  if  I  perished,  it  should  still  be  in  tha 
struggle  once  more  to  behold  the  people  of  my  love." 

How  closely  did  they  press  the  poor  fellow  to  their  hearts  ! 

"  You  should  not  have  perished,"  said  Nicholas  Barre,  boldly 
"  I,  for  one,  have  become  tired  of  this  tyranny,  under  which  we 
no  longer  breathe  in  safety.  I  am  resolved  to  bear  it  no  longer 
than  I  can.  There  are  others  who  have  resolved  like  me.  But 
of  this  hereafter.  Tell  us,  Lachane,  how  you  contrived  to  swim 
across  this  great  stretch  of  sea  ?" 

"  By  the  mercy  of  God  which  made  me  desperate — which 
made  the  seas  calm — which  gave  me  a  favoring  current,  and 
which  threw  yon  fragment  of  a  ship's  spar  within  my  reach. 
But  I  nearly  sunk.  Twice  did  I  feel  the  waters  going  over  me  ; 
but  I  thought  of  France,  and  all,  and  the  strength  came  back  to 
me.  I  can  say  no  more.  I  am  weak — very  weak.  Give  me  to 
eat.'' 

A  flask  of  generous  wine  with  which  they  had  provided  them- 
selves, cheered  and  inspirited  the  sufferer.  They  laid  him  down 
at  the  foot  of  a  broad  palmetto,  while  one  of  them  brought 
food  from  the  canoe.  Much  it  rejoiced  them  to  see  him  eat. 
Ere  he  had  satisfied  his  hunger,  Lachane  spoke  again  as  follows  : 

"  I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you,  and  others,  have  resolved  to  sub- 
mit no  longer  to  this  tyranny.  It  was  not  the  desire  of  food,  or 
friendship,  only,  that  strengthened  me  to  throw  myself  into  the 
sea,  in  the  desperate  desire  to  see  the  garrison  once  more.  But 
while  my  head  flamed  beneath  the  sun's  downward  blaze  upon  that 
waste  of  sand,  while  mine  eyes  burned  like  living  coals  fresh  from 
the  furnace,  and  my  blood  leaped  and  bounded  like  a  mad  thing 
about  my  temples  and  in  all  my  veins,  I  saw  all  the  terrible  suffer- 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  91 

ings  of  our  poor  Gruernaehe  anew.  I  heard  his  voice — his  bitter 
reproaches — and  then  the  terrible  scream  of  the  poor  Indian  wo- 
man when  the  heavy  rods  descended  upon  her  shoulder.  Then  I 
felt  that  I  had  not  done  what  my  soul  commanded  ! — that  I  had 
abandoned  my  innocent  comrade  like  a  lamb  to  the  butcher.  I 
swore  to  do  myself  justice — to  seek  the  garrison  at  Fort  Charles, 
if,  for  no  other  purpose,  to  have  revenge  upon  Albert.  I  verily 
believe,  mes  amis,  that  it  was  that  oath  that  strengthened  me  in 
the  sea — that  lifted  me  when  the  waves  went  over  me,  and  my 
heart  was  sinking  with  my  body.  I  thought  of  the  blows  which 
might  yet  be  struck  for  vengeance  and  freedom.  I  thought  of 
Guernache  and  his  murderer, — and  I  rose, — I  struck  out.  I  had 
no  fear  !  I  got  a  strength  which  I  had  not  at  the  beginning ; 
and  I  am  here ;  the  merciful  Grod  be  praised  forever  more — 
ready  to  strike  a  fair  blow  at  the  tyrant,  though  I  die  the  moment 
after  !" 

"  That  blow  must  now  be  struck  very  soon,"  said  Nicholas 
Barre.  "  We  are  no  longer  safe.  Albert  rules  us  just  as  it 
pleases  him,  by  his  mere  humor,  and  not  according  to  the  laws  or 
usages  of  France.  Every  day  witnesses  against  him.  Some  new 
tyranny — some  new  cruelty — adds  hourly  to  our  afflictions,  and 
makes  life,  on  such  terms,  endurable  no  longer.  We  are  not  men 
if  we  submit  to  it." 

"  Hear  me,"  said  Lachane  ;  u  you  have  not  laid  the  plan  for 
his  overthrow  ?" 

"  Not  yet !  But  we  are  ready  for  it.  All's  ripe.  The  pro- 
per spirit  is  at  work." 

"  Let  it  work !  All  right ;  but  look  you,  comrades,  it  is  for 
this  hand  to  strike  the  blow.  I  demand  the  right,  because  Guer- 


92  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

nache  was  my  closest  friend.     I  demand  it  in  compensation  for 
my  own  sufferings." 

"  It  is  yours,  Lachane  !     You  have  the  right !" 
"  Thanks,  mes  amis  !    And  now  for  the  plan.     You  have  re- 
solved on  none  yourselves.     Hearken  to  mine." 

They  lent  willing  ears,  and  Lachane  continued.  His  counsel 
was  that  Captain  Albert  should  be  advised  of  an  unusual  multi- 
tude of  deer  on  one  of  the  "  hunting  islands"  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. These  islands  are  remarkable — some  of  them — for  the 
luxuriance  and  beauty  of  their  forests.  Here,  the  deer  were 
accustomed  to  assemble  in  great  numbers,  particularly  when 
pressed  by  clouds  of  Indian  hunters  along  the  main  ;  nor  were 
they  loth  to  visit  them  at  other  seasons,  when  the  tides  were  low 
and  the  seas  smooth.  Swimming  across  the  dividing  rivers,  and 
arms  of  the  sea,  at  such  periods,  in  little  groups  of  five  or  ten, 
they  found  here  an  almost  certain  refuge  and  favorite  browsing 
patches.  To  one  of  these  islands,  Barre,  or  some  other  less  ob- 
jectionable person,  was  to  beguile  Captain  Albert.  His  fondness 
for  the  chase  was  known,  and  was  gratified  on  all  convenient 
occasions.  He  was  to  be  advised  of  numerous  herds  upon  the 
island,  which  passed  to  it  the  night  before.  They  had  been  seen 
crossing  in  the  moonlight  from  the  main.  Lachane,  meanwhile, 
possessing  himself  of  the  canoe  which  his  friends  had  just  em- 
ployed, armed  with  weapons  which  they  were  to  provide,  was  to 
place  himself  in  a  convenient  shelter  upon  the  island,  and  take 
such  a  position  as  would  enable  him  to  seize  upon  the  first  safe 
opportunity  for  striking  the  blow.  Numerous  details,  not  neces- 
sary for  our  purpose,  but  essential  to  that  of  the  conspirators, 
were  suggested,  discussed,  and  finally  agreed  upon,  or  rejected. 
Lachane  simply  concluded  with  repeating  his  demand  for  the 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  93 

privilege  of  the  first  blow — a  claim  farther  insisted  upon,  as,  in 
the  event  of  failure,  he  who  had  already  incurred  the  doom  of 
outlawry,  and  had  offended  against  hope,  might  thus  save  others 
harmless,  who  occupied  a  position  of  greater  security.  We  need 
not  follow  the  arrangement  of  the  parties.  Enough,  that,  when 
they  were  discussed  fully,  the  three  separated — Barre  and  his 
companion  to  regain  the  fort,  and  Lachane  to  embark  in  the 
canoe,  ere  day  should  dawn,  for  the  destined  islet  where  he  was 
equally  to  find  security  and  vengeance. 

Everything  succeeded  to  the  wishes  of  the  conspirators.  Albert, 
who  was  passionately  fond  of  the  chase,  was  easily  persuaded  by 
the  representations  of  Barre  and  his  comrades.  The  pinnace 
was  fitted  out  at  an  early  hour,  and,  attended  by  the  two  con- 
spirators, and  some  half  dozen  other  persons,  the  greater  number 
of  whom  were  supposed  to  be  as  hostile  to  the  tyrant  as  them- 
selves, the  Captain  set  forth,  little  dreaming  that  he  should  be 
the  hunted  instead  of  the  hunter.  Pierre  Renaud,  by  whom  he 
was  also  accompanied,  was  the  only  person  of  the  party  upon 
whom  he  could  rely.  But  neither  his  creature  nor  himself  had 
the  slightest  apprehension  of  the  danger.  The  jealousies  of  the 
despot  seemed  for  the  moment  entirely  at  rest,  and,  as  if  in  the 
exercise  of  a  pleasant  novelty,  Albert  threw  aside  all  the  terrors 
of  his  authority.  He  could  jest  when  the  fit  was  on  him.  He, 
too,  had  his  moments  of  play ;  a  sort  of  feline  faculty,  in  the 
exercise  of  which  the  cat  and  the  tiger  seem  positively  amiable. 
His  jests  were  echoed  by  his  men,  and  their  laughter  gratified 
him.  But  there  was  one  exception  to  the  general  mirth,  which 
arrested  his  attention.  Nicholas  Barre  alone  preserved  a  stern, 
unbroken  composure,  which  the  gay  humor  of  his  superior  failed 
entirely  to  overcome.  Nothing  so  much  vexes  superiority  as 


94  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

that  it  should  condescend  in  vain  ;  and  the  silence  and  coldness 
of  Barre,  and  the  utter  insensibility  with  which  he  heard  the 
good  things  of  his  captain,  and  which  occasioned  the  ready 
laughter  of  all  the  rest,  finally  extorted  a  comment  from  Albert, 
which  gave  full  utterance  to  his  spleen. 

"  By  my  life,  Lieutenant  Barre," — such  was  the  rank  of  this 
conspirator — "  but  that  I  know  thee  better,  I  should  hold  thee  to 
be  one  of  those  unhappy  wretches  to  whom  all  merriment  is  a 
hateful  thing — to  whom  a  clever  jest  gives  offence  only,  and 
whom  a  cheerful  laugh  sends  off  sullenly  to  bed.  Pray,  if  it 
be  not  too  serious  a  humor,  tell  us  the  cause  of  thy  present 
dullness." 

"  Verily,  Captain  Albert,"  replied  the  person  addressed,  fixing 
his  eyes  steadily  upon  him,  and  speaking  in  the  most  deliberate 
accents,  "  I  was  thinking  of  the  deer  that  we  shall  strike  to-day. 
Doubtless,  he  is  even  now  making  as  merry  as  thyself  among  his 
comrades — little  dreaming  that  the  hunter  hath  his  thoughts 
already  fixed  upon  the  choice  morsels  of  his  flanks,  which,  a  few 
hours  hence,  shall  be  smoking  above  the  fire.  Truly,  are  we  but 
little  wiser  than  the  thoughtless  deer.  The  merriest  of  us  may 
be  struck  as  soon.  The  man  hath  as  few  securities  from  the 
morrow  as  the  beast  that  runs." 

Captain  Albert  was  not  the  most  sagacious  tyrant  in  the  world, 
or  the  moral  reflections  of  our  conspirator  might  have  tended  to 
his  disquiet.  He  saw  no  peculiar  significance  in  the  remark, 
though  the  matter  of  it  was  all  well  remembered,  when  the  sub- 
sequent events  came  to  be  known.  Little,  indeed,  did  the  victim 
"ihen  dream  of  the  fate  which  lay  in  wait  for  him.  He  laughed 
at  the  shallow  reflection  of  Barre,  which  seemed  so  equally  mis- 
timed and  unmeaning,  and  his  merriment  increased  with  every 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  95 

stroke  of  the  oar  which  sent  the  pinnace  towards  the  scene  chosen 
for  the  tragedy.  All  his  severities  were  thrown  aside ;  never  had 
he  shown  himself  more  gracious  ;  and,  though  his  good  humor 
was  rather  the  condescension  of  one  who  is  secure  in  his  authority, 
and  can  resume  his  functions  at  any  moment,  than  the  proof  o* 
any  sympathy  with  his  comrades,  yet  he  seemed  willing  for  one 
that  it  should  not  lose  any  of  its  pleasant  quality  by  any  frequem 
exhibition  of  his  usual  caprice.  But  for  an  occasional  sarcasm 
in  which  he  sometimes  indulged,  and  by  which  he  continued  to 
keep  alive  the  antipathies  of  the  conspirators,  the  gentler  mood 
in  which  he  now  suffered  them  to  behold  him,  might  have  rendered 
them  reluctant  to  prosecute  their  purpose.  They  might  have 
relented,  even  at  the  last  moment,  had  they  been  prepared  to 
believe  that  his  present  good  humor  was  the  fruit  of  any  sincere 
relentings  in  him.  But  he  did  not  succeed  to  this  extent,  and, 
with  a  single  significant  look  to  his  comrades,  the  stern  Nicholas 
Barre  showed  to  them  that  he,  at  least,  was  firm  in  the  secret 
purpose  which  they  had  in  view.  His  silence  and  gravity  for  a 
time  served  to  amuse  his  superior,  who  exercised  his  wit  at  the 
expense  of  the  sullen  soldier,  little  dreaming,  all  the  while,  at 
what  a  price  he  should  be  required  to  pay  for  his  temporary 
indulgence.  But  as  Barre  continued  in  his  mood,  the  pride  of 
the  haughty  superior  was  at  length  hurt ;  and,  when  they  reached 
the  shore,  the  insolence  of  Albert  had  resumed  much  of  its  old 
ascendancy. 

Albert  was  the  first  to  spring  to  land.  He  was  impatient  to 
begin  the  chase,  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond.  The  sport, 
as  conducted  in  that  day  and  region,  was  after  a  very  simple 
fashion.  It  consisted  rather  in  a  judicious  distribution  of  the 
hunters,  at  various  places  of  watch,  than  in  the  possession  of  any 


96  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

particular  skill  of  weapon  or  speed  of  foot.  The  island  was 
small — the  woods  not  very  dense  or  intricate,  and  the  only  outlet 
of  escape  was  across  the  little  arm  of  the  sea  which  separated 
the  island  from  the  main.  The  hunters  were  required  to  watch 
this  passage,  with  a  few  other  avenues  from  the  forest.  We  need 
not  observe  their  order  or  arrangement.  It  will  be  enough  to 
note  that  Barre  chose  as  the  sentinel  left  in  charge  of  the  boat 
one  of  the  firmest  of  the  conspirators.  This  was  a  person  named 
Lamotte — a  small  but  fiery  spirit — a  man  of  equal  passion  and 
vindictiveness,  who  had  suffered  frequent  indignities  from  Albert, 
which  his  own  inferior  position  as  a  common  soldier  had  compelled 
him  to  endure  without  complaint.  But  he  was  not  the  less  sensi- 
ble of  his  hurts,  because  not  suffered  to  complain  of  them ;  and 
his  hatred  only  assumed  a  more  intense  and  unforgiving  character, 
because  it  seemed  cut  off  from  all  the  outlets  to  revenge. 

The  arrangements  of  the  hunters  all  completed,  they  began  to 
skirt  slowly  the  woody  region  by  which  the  centre  of  the  island 
was  chiefly  occupied.  Gradually  separating  as  they  advanced, 
they  finally,  one  by  one,  found  their  way  into  its  recesses.  A 
single  dog  which  they  carried  with  them,  was  now  unleashed,  and 
his  eager  tongue  very  soon  gave  notice  to  the  hunters  that  their 
victim  was  afoot.  As  the  bay  of  the  hound  became  more 
frequent,  the  blood  of  Albert  became  more  and  more  excited, 
and,  pressing  forward,  in  advance  of  all  his  companions,  the 
sinuosities  of  the  route  pursued  soon  scattered  the  whole  party. 
But  this  he  did  not  heed.  The  one  consciousness, — that  which 
appealed  to  his  love  of  sport, — led  to  a  forgetfulness  of  all  others ; 
and  it  was  no  disquiet  to  our  captain  to  find  himself  alone  in 
forests  where  he  had  never  trod  before,  particularly  when  his 
eager  eye  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  fine  herd  of  the  sleek-skinned 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  97 

foresters,  well-limbed,  and  nobly-headed,  darting  suddenly  from 
cover  into  the  occasional  openings  before  him.  A  good  shot  was 
Captain  Albert.  He  fired,  and  had  the  joy  to  see  tumbled,  head- 
long, sprawling,  in  his  tracks,  one  of  the  largest  bucks  of  the 
herd.  He  shouted  his  delight  aloud  ; — shouted  twice  and  clapped 
his  hands ! 

His  shouts  were  echoed,  near  at  hand,  by  a  voice  at  once 
strange  and  familiar !  His  instinct  divined  a  sudden  danger  in 
this  strange  echo.  He  stopped  short,  even  as  he  was  about  to 
bound  forward  to  the  spot  in  which  the  deer  had  fallen.  Another 
shout ! — but  this  was  to  his  companions  !  He  was  now  confound- 
ed at  the  new  echo  and  the  fearful  vision  which  this  summons 
conjured  up.  At  his  side,  and  in  his  very  ears,  rose  another 
shout — a  shriek  rather — much  louder  than  his  own — a  wild,  in- 
describable yell, — which  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  his  soul. 
At  the  same  instant,  a  gaunt,  wild  man — a  half-naked,  half- 
famished  form — darted  from  the  thicket  and  stood  directly  before 
him  in  his  path  ! 

"  Ho  !  Ho  !   Ho  !"  howled  the  stranger. 

"  Guernache !"  was  the  single  word,  forced  from  the  guilty 
soul  of  ihe  criminal ! 

"  Guernache  !  Yes !  Guernache,  in  his  friend  Lachane  ! 
Both  are  here  !  See  you  not  ?  Look  !  Ho  !  Captain  Albert, — 
look  and  see,  and  make  yourself  ready.  Your  time  is  short. 
You  will  hang  and  banish  no  longer !" 

Wild  with  exulting  fury  was  the  face  of  the  speaker — terrible 
the  language  of  his  eyes — threatening  the  action  of  the  uplifted 
arm.  A  keen  blade  flashed  in  his  grasp,  and  the  discovery  which 
Albert  made,  that,  in  the  wild  man  before  him,  he  saw  the  person 
whom  he  had  so  wantonly  and  cruelly  decreed  to  perish,  sufficed 


98  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

to  make  him  nerveless.  The  surprise  deprived  him  of  resource, 
while  his  guilty  conscience  enfeebled  his  arm,  and  took  all  courage 
from  his  soul.  His  match-lock  was  already  discharged.  The 
couteau  de  ckasse  was  at  his  side  ;  but,  before  this  could  be  drawn, 
he  must  be  hewn  down  by  the  already  uplifted  weapon  of  his  foe. 
Besides,  even  if  drawn,  what  could  he  hope,  by  its  employment, 
against  the  superior  muscle  and  vigor  of  Lachane  ?  These 
thoughts  passed  with  a  lightning-like  rapidity  through  the  brain 
of  Albert.  He  felt  that  he  had  met  his  fate  !  He  shrunk  back 
from  its  encounter,  and  sent  up  a  feeble  but  a  painful  cry  for  his 
creature, — "  Pierre  E-enaud  !" 

"  Ha !  ha  !  you  cry  for  him  in  vain  !"  was  the  mocking  answer 
of  Lachane.  "  Renaud,  that  miserable  villain — that  wretch 
after  thy  own  heart  and  fashion — hath  quite  as  much  need  of 
thee  as  thou  of  him  !  Ye  will  serve  each  other  never  more  to  the 
prejudice  of  better  men.  Hark  !  hear  you  not  ?  Even  now 
they  are  dealing  with  him  !"  ' 

And,  sure  enough,  even  as  he  spoke,  the  screams  of  one  in 
mortal  terror,  interrupted  by  several  heavy  blows  in  quick  succes- 
sion, seemed  to  confirm  the  truth  of  what  Lachane  had  spoken. 
In  that  fearful  moment  Albert  remembered  the  words,  now  full  of 
meaning,  which  Nicholas  Barre  had  spoken  while  they  set  forth. 
The  hunter  had  indeed  become  the  hunted.  Lachane  gave  him 
little  time  for  meditation. 

"  They  have  done  with  him  !  Prepare  !  To  your  knees,  Cap- 
tain Albert !  I  give  you  time  to  make  your  peace  with  Grod — 
such  time  as  you  gave  my  poor  Gruernache  !  Prepare !" 

But,  though  Albert  had  not  courage  for  combat,  he  yet  found 
strength  enough  for  flight.  He  was  slight  of  form,  small,  and 
tolerably  swift  of  foot.  Flinging  his  now  useless  firelock  to  the 


LACHANE,    THE    DELIVERER.  99 

ground,  lie  suddenly  darted  off  through  the  forests,  with  a  degree 
of  energy  and  spirit  which  it  tasked  all  the  efforts  of  the  less 
wieldy  frame  of  Lachane  to  approach.  Life  and  death  were  on 
the  event,  and  Albert  succeeded  in  gaining  the  beach  where  the 
boat  had  been  left  before  he  was  overtaken.  But  Lamotte,  to 
whom  the  boat  had  been  given  in  charge,  pushed  off,  with  a 
mocking  yell  of  laughter,  at  his  approach  !  His  cries  for  succor 
were  unheeded.  Lamotte  himself  would  have  slain  the  fugitive 
but  that  he  knew  Lachane  had  claimed  for  himself  this  privilege. 
His  spear  had  been  uplifted  as  Albert  drew  nigh  the  water,  but 
the  shout  of  Lachane,  emerging  from  the  woods,  warned  him  to 
desist.  He  used  the  weapon  to  push  the  pinnace  into  deep  wa- 
ter, leaving  Albert  to  his  fate  ! 

"  Save  me,  Lamotte  !"  was  the  prayer,  of  the  tyrant  in  his 
desperation,  urged  with  every  promise  that  he  fancied  might  prove 
potent  with  the  soldier.  But  few  moments  were  allowed  him  for 
entreaty,  and  they  were  unavailing.  Lamotte  contented  himself 
with  looking  on  the  event,  ready  to  finish  with  his  spear  what 
Lachane  might  leave  undone.  Albert  gazed  around  him,  and  as 
Lachane  came,  with  one  shriek  of  terror,  darted  into  the  sea. 
The  avenger  was  close  behind  him.  The  water  rose  to  the  waist 
and  finally  to  the  neck  of  the  fugitive.  He  turned  in  supplica- 
tion, only  to  receive  the  stroke.  The  steel  entered  his  shoulder, 
just  below  the  neck.  He  staggered  and  fell  forwards  upon  the 
slayer.  The  blade  snapped  in  the  fall,  and  the  wounded  man 
sunk  down  irretrievably  beneath  the  waters.  Lachane  raised  the 
fragment  of  his  sword  to  Heaven,  while,  with  something  of  a 
Roman  fervor,  he  ejaculated — 

"  Guernache  !  dear  friend,  behold  !  the  hand  of  Lachane  hath 
avenged  thee  upon  thy  murderer  !" 


VIII. 


FLIGHT,  FAMINE,  AND  THE  BLOODY  FEAST  OF  THE 
FUGITIVES. 

THE  assassination  of  Captain  Albert  restored  peace,  at  least, 
to  the  little  colony  of  Fort  Charles.  He  had  been  the  chief  dan- 
ger to  the  garrison,  by  reason  of  his  vexatious  tyranny,  fomented 
ever  by  the  miserable  malice  and  espionage  of  Pierre  Renaud. 
Both  of  these  had  perished,  and  a  sense  of  new  security  filled  the 
hearts  of  the  survivors.  They  had  also  gratified  all  revenges. 
The  sequel  of  the  narrative  may  be  told,  almost  in  the  very 
words  of  the  simple  chronicle  from  which  our  facts  are  mostly 
drawn. 

"  When  they  (the  conspirators^)  were  come  home  againe,  they 
assembled  themselves  together  to  choose  one  to  be  Governor  over 
them.5'  In  this  selection  there  was  no  difficulty.  Jealousies  and 
dissensions  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  choice  naturally  fell  upon 
Nicholas  Barre,*  whose  former  position,  as  Lieutenant  under  Al- 
bert, and  whose  recent  connection  with  the  party  by  which  he 

*  "  II  fallut  songer  ensuite  a  lui  donner  un  successeur,  et  le  choix  que 
'on  fit,  fut  plus  sage,  qu'on  ne  devoit  Pattendre  de  gens,  dont  les  mains 
fumoient  encore  du  sang  de  leur  Chef.  Us  mirent  a  leur  tete  un  fort  hon- 
nete  homme,  nomme  Nicholas  Barre,  lequel  par  son  adresse  et  sa  prudence 
retablit  en  peu  de  terns  la  paix  et  le  bon  ordre  dans  la  colonie."— Charle- 
voixy  JV.  Fran.,  Liv.  1. 


FLIGHT    AND    FAMINE.  101 

was  slain,  had  naturally  given  him  a  large  influence  among  the  co- 
lonists.    He  was  equal  to  his  new  duties.     He  "  knewe  so  well  to 
quite  himself  of    this    charge    that  all  rancour   and  dissentiou 
ceased  among  them,  and  they  lived  peaceably  one  with  another." 
But,  though  harmony  was  restored  among  them,  it  was  a  harmo- 
ny without  hope.     They  had  been  abandoned  by  their  country- 
men.    The   supplies   which   Ribault   had    promised   them   had 
utterly  failed.      They  had  never,  indeed,  been  levied.     Ribault 
returned  to  France  only  to  find  it  convulsed  with  a  renewal  of  the 
civil  war,  under  the  auspices  of  that  incarnate  mischief,  Cathe- 
rine de  Medicis,  and  her  fatherless  and  cruel  son,  in  whose  name 
she  swayed  the  country  to  its  ruin.     Coligny,  the  father  of  the 
colony,  had  enough  to  do  in  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Huguenots 
at  home.     He   could  do  nothing  for  those  whom  he  had  sent 
abroad.     The  peace  of  Longjumean  had  been  of  short  duration, 
and  there  had  been  really  no  remission  of  hostilities  on  the  part 
of  the  Catholics.     In  the  space  of  three  months  more  than  two 
thousand  of  the  former  fell  victims  to  the  rage  of  the  populace ; 
and,  though  reluctantly,  the  Prince  of  Conde  and  Coligny  were 
forced  into  a  resumption  of  arms  for  the  safety  of  their  own  per- 
sons.    The  immediate  necessities  of  their  situation  were  such  as 
to  defeat  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  remote  settlement  at  Fort 
Charles.     They   needed   all   their   soldiers   and   Huguenots    in 
France.     Feeling  themselves  abandoned — they  knew  not  why — 
the  colonists  in  Florida  ceased  to  behold  a  charm  or  solace  in 
their  solitary  realm  of  refuge.     Its  securities  were  no  longer  suf- 
ficient to  compensate  for  its  loneliness.     Better  the  strife,  per- 
haps, than  this  unmeaning  and  unbroken  silence.     They  were  too 
few  for  adventure,  and  the  discouragements  resulting  from  their 
domestic  grievances  were  enough  to  paralyze  any  such  spirit. 


102  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

But  for  this  there  had  been  no  lack  of  the  necessary  inducement* 
In  their  second  voyage  to  King  Ouade,  seeking  "  mil  and  beans," 
they  had  learned  some  of  the  secrets  of  the  country  which  made 
their  eyes  brighten.     They  had  discovered  that  there  was  gold  in 
the  land,  and  that  the  gold  of  the  land  was  good.     This  prince 
had  freely  given  them  of  his  treasure.     He  had  bestowed  on 
them  pearls  of    the  native  waters,  stones  of  finest  chrystal,  and 
certain  specimens  of  silver  ore,  which  he  described,  in  reply  to 
their  eager  inquiries,  as  having  been  gathered  at  the  foot  of  cer- 
tain high  mountains,  the  bowels  of  which  contained  it  in  greatest 
quantity.     These  were  the  mountains  of  Apalachia,  and  the  truth 
of  Ouade 's  revelations  have  been  confirmed  by  subsequent  dis- 
covery.    The  intelligence  had  greatly  gladdened  the  hearts  of  our 
Frenchmen,  and  nothing  but  the  feebleness  of  the  garrison  pre- 
vented  Albert  from   prosecuting   a   search   which  promised  so 
largely  to  gratify  the  lusts  of  avarice.     His  subsequent  errors  and 
fate  put  an  end  to  the  desire  among  his  followers.     They  longed 
for  nothing  now  so  much  as  home.     They  had  been  temporarily 
abandoned  by  the  Indians  whose  granaries  they  had  emptied,  and 
who  had  been  compelled  to  wander  off  to  remote  forests  in  search 
of  their  own  supplies.     The  gloom  of  the   Frenchmen  naturally 
increased  in  the  absence  of  their  allies,  who  had  furnished  them 
equally  with  food  and  recreation.     Their  provisions  again  began 
to  fail  them.  •   Their  resources  in  corn  and  peas  were  quite  ex- 
hausted ;  and  no  more  could  be  procured  from  the  red-men,  who 
had  preserved  a  supply  barely  sufficient  for  the  planting  of  their 
little  fields.     In  this  condition  of  want,  with  this  feeling  of  des- 
titution and  abandonment, it  was  resolved  among  the  Huguenots,  to 
depart  the  colony.     With  a  fond  hope  once  more  of  recovering 
the  shores  of  that  country,  still  most  beloved,  which  had  so 


FLIGHT    AND    FAMINE.  103 

unkindly  cast   them  forth,  they   began  to   build  themselves  a 
vessel  sufficiently   large  to   bear  their   little    company.     "  And 
though  there  were  no  men  among  them,"    says  the  chronicle, 
"  that  had  any  skill,  notwithstanding,  necessitye,  which  is  the 
maistresse  of  all  sciences,  taught  them  the  way   to   build  it." 
But  how  were  they  to   provide  the   sails,  the  tackle   and  the 
cordage  ?     "  Having  no  meanes  to  recover  these  things  they  were 
in   worse   case  than  at  the  first,  and  almost  ready  to  fall  into 
despayre."     They  were  succored,  when  most  desponding,  by  the 
help  of  Providence.     "  That  good  God,  which  never  forsaketh 
the  afflicted,  did  favor  them  in  their  necessitie."      The  Indians, 
who  had  been  for  some  time  absent,  seeking,  by  the  chase,  in 
distant  forests,  to  supply  themselves  with  provisions  in  place  of 
those  which  they  had  yielded  to  the  white  men,  now  began  to  re- 
appear ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  their  perplexities,  they  were  visited 
by  the  Caciques,  Audusta   and   Maccou,  with   more  than  two 
hundred  of  their  followers.     These,  our  Frenchmen  went  forth  to 
meet,  with  great  show  of  satisfaction ;  and  had  they  been  suffi- 
ciently re-assured  by  the  return  of  their  red  friends — had  they 
not  been  too  much  the  victims  of  nostalgia^  or  homesickness,  the 
cloud  might  have  passed  from  their  fortunes,  and  the  little  colony 
might  have  been  re-established  under  favoring  auspices.      But 
their  only  thought  was  of  their  native  land.     They  declared  their 
wishes  to  the   Indian  chieftains,  and,  showing  in  what  need  of 
cordage  they  stood,  they  were  told  that  this  would  be  provided 
in  the  space  of  a  few  days.     The  Caciques  kept  their  word,  and, 
in  little   time,  brought  an  abundance   of  cordage.     But  other 
things  were  wanted,  and  "  our  men  sought  all  meanes  to  recover 
rosen  in  the  woodes,  wherein  they  cut  the  pine  trees  round  about, 
out  of  which  they  drew  sufficient  reasonable  quantitie  to  bray  the 


104  THH    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Vessel.  Also  they  gathered  a  kind  of  mosse,  which  groweth  on 
the  trees  of  this  countrie,  to  serve  to  caulke  the  same  withall. 
There  now  wanted  nothing  but  sayles,  which  they  made  of  their 
own  shirtes  and  of  their  sheetes."  Thus  provided  with  the  things 
requisite,  our  Frenchmen  hastened  to  finish  their  brigantine,  and 
"  used  so  speedie  diligence,"  that  they  were  soon  ready  to  launch 
forth  upon  the  great  deep.  They  gave  to  their  Indian  friends  all 
their  surplus  goods  and  chattels,  leaving  to  them  all  the  merchan- 
dise of  the  fort  which  they  could  not  take  away ; — a  liberality 
which  gave  the  red-men  the  "  greatest  contentation  in  the 
worlde."  But  they  re-embarked  their  forge,  their  artillery  and 
other  munitions  of  war.  Unhappily,  they  were  too  impatient  to 
begin  their  journey.  In  the  too  sanguine  hope  of  reaching 
France,  with  a  speed  proportioned  to  their  eager  desires,  they 
laid  in  no  adequate  provision  for  a  long  voyage.  "  In  the  meane 
season  the  wind  came  so  fit  for  their  purpose,  that  it  seemed  to 
invite  them  to  put  to  sea.  Being  drunken  with  the  too  excessive 
joy  which  they  had  conceived  for  their  returning  into  France,  or 
rather  deprived  of  all  foresight  and  consideration  : — without 
regarding  the  inconsistencie  of  the  winds  which  change  in  a 
moment,  they  put  themselves  to  sea,  and,  with  so  slender  victuals, 
that  the  end  of  their  enterprise  became  unlucky  and  unfortunate." 
They  had  not  sailed  a  third  part  of  the  distance,  when  they 
were  surprised  with  calms,  which  so  much  hindered  their  progress 
that,  during  the  space  of  three  weeks,  they  had  not  advanced 
twenty-five  leagues.  In  this  period  their  provisions  underwent 
daily  diminution.  In  a  short  time  their  stock  had  sunk  so  low 
that  it  was  necessary  to  limit  the  allowance  to  each  man.  We 
may  conceive  their  destitution  from  this  allowance.  "Twelve 
grains  of  mill  by  the  day,  which  may  be  in  value  as  much  as 


FLIGHT    AND    FAMINE.  105 

twelve  peason  !"  But  even  this  poor  quantity  was  not  long  con- 
tinued. It  was  "  a  felicity,"  in  the  language  of  the  chronicle, 
which  was  of  brief  duration.  Soon  the  "  mill  "  failed  them 
entirely — all  at  once — and  they  "  had  nothing  for  their  more 
assured  refuge,  but  their  shoes  and  leather  jerkins,  which  they 
did  eate."  But  their  misfortune  was  not  confined  to  their  food. 
Their  supplies  of  fresh  water  failed  them  also.  Never  had 
adventurers  set  forth  upon  the  seas  with  such  wretched  provision. 
Their  beverage  finally  became  the  water  of  the  ocean — the  thirst- 
provoking  brine.  Such  beverage  as  this  increased  their  miseries 
— atrophy  and  madness  followed — and  death  stretched  himself 
out  among  them  on  every  side.  Nor  were  they  suffered  to  escape 
from  the  most  painful  toils  while  thus  contending  against  thirst 
and  famine.  Their  wretched  vessel  sprang  a-leak.  The  water 
grew  upon  them.  Day  and  night  were  they  kept  busy  in  casting 
it  forth,  without  cessation  or  repose.  Each  day  added  to  their 
griefs  and  dangers.  Their  shoes  and  jerkins  they  had  already 
devoured  in  their  desperation,  and  where  to  look  for  other  mate- 
rial to  supply  the  materiel  of  distension,  puzzled  their  thoughts. 
While  thus  distressed  by  their  anxieties,  with  their  comrades 
dying  about  them,  a  new  danger  assailed  them,  as  if  fortune  was 
resolved  to  crush  them  at  a  blow,  and  thus  conclude  their  miseries. 
The  winds  rose,  the  seas  were  lashed  into  fury  by  the  storm. 
Their  vessel,  no  longer  buoyant,  "in  the  turning  of  a  hand" 
shipped  a  fearful  sea,  and  was  nearly  swamped — "  filled  halfe  full 
of  water,  and  bruised  in  upon  the  one  side."  This  was  the  las 
drop  in  the  cup  of  misfortune  which  finally  makes  it  overflow. 
Then  it  was  that  the  hearts  of  our  Frenchmen  sunk  utterly  within 
them.  They  no  longer  cared  to  contend  for  life.  They  gave 
themselves  up  to  despair.  a  Being  now  more  out  of  hope  than 


106  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM 

ever  to  escape  out  of  this  extreme  peril,  they  cared  not  for  cast- 
ing out  of  the  water  which  now  was  almost  ready  to  drown  them  ; 
and  as  men  resolved  to  die,  everie  one  fell  downe  backwarde,  and 
gave  themselves  over,  altogether  unto  the  will  of  the  waves." 

It  was  at  this  moment  of  extreme  despondency,  that  Lachane 
tried  to  cheer  them  with  new  hope,  and  to  new  exertions.  He 
encouraged  them  by  various  assurance,  to  hold  out  against  fate, 
and  struggle  manfully  to  the  last.  He  told  them  "  how  little 
way  they  had  to  sayle,  assuring  them  that  if  the  winde  helde, 
they  should  see  land  within  three  dayes."  "  At  worst,"  he  added, 
"  we  can  die  when  we  can  do  no  better.  It  will  be  always  time 
enough  for  that.  But  this  necessity  is  not  now.  We  can  surely 
put  it  off  for  some  time  longer.  At  present,  let  us  live  !" 

Speaking  thus,  in  the  most  cheerful  manner,  the  brave  fellow 
set  them  a  proper  example  by  which  to  dissipate  their  fears  and 
to  provide  against  them.  He  began  to  bail  and  cast  out  the  water 
in  which,  in  their  extreme  indifference  to  their  fate,  they  either 
sat  or  lay.  They  took  heart  as  they  beheld  him,  and  joined  in 
the  labor  with  new  vigor,  and  that  elastic  spirit  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic of  Frenchmen.  But, when  the  three  days  had  gone 
by,  and  still  their  eyes  were  unblessed  with  the  sight  of  the  pro- 
mised land — when  they  had  consumed  every  remnant  of  shoe  and 
jerkin,  and  nothing  more  was  left  them  to  consume,  they  turned 
their  eyes  in  bitter  reproach  upon  the  man  who  had  persuaded 
them  to  live.  He  met  their  reproachful  glances  with  a  smile 
and  instantly  devised  a  remedy  for  their  fears  and  weaknesses, 
through  one  of  those  terrible  thoughts  which,  at  any  other  period, 
would  revolt,  with  extremest  loathing,  the  humanity  of  the  man, 
however  little  human. 

"  My  comrades  !"  said  the  noble  fellow,  "  you  hunger — you 


FLIGHT    AND    FAMINE,  107 

Starve  !  You  will  perish  unless  you  can  get  some  food.  I  see  it 
in  your  eyes.  They  have  no  lustre,  and  the  courage  seems  to 
have  gone  out  entirely  from  your  hearts.  You  must  not  die  ! 
You  must  not  lose  your  courage.  You  shall  not.  You  shall 
drink  life  and  courage  out  of  my  breast.  I  have  enough  there 
for  all  who  thirst  and  faint.  You  shall  feed  upon  my  heart — 
you  shall  drink  the  blood  of  a  brave  man,  and  live  for  your  friends 
and  country.  I  have  few  friends,  and  my  country  can  spare  me. 
Better  that  one  of  us  should  die  than  that  all  should  perish.  I 
am  ready  to  die  for  you  !  What !  You  shake  your  heads — you 
would  not  have  it  so — but  it  shall  be  so  !  You  have  loved  me — 
you  have  suffered  for  me.  Well,  Lachane  loves  you  in  return — 
he  will  die  for  you.  You  shall  remember  him  hereafter,  when 
our  own  dear  France  receives  you  again  in  safety.  You  will 
bless  his  memory  !" 

A  groan  was  the  only  reply  of  those  around  him.  Lachane 
threw  open  his  breast. 

"  There  !"  he  cried  ;  "  Look  !  I  am  ready  !  I  fear  net  death. 
Strike  !  See  you  not,  my  bosom  is  open  to  the  knife.  My  hand 
is  down — there !" — grasping  the  seat  upon  which  he  sate, — 
"  There  !  it  shall  not  be  lifted  to  arrest  the  blow  !" 

The  famished  wretches  looked  with  wolfish  yearnings  upon  the 
white  breast  of  the  offered  sacrifice  ;  but  there  was  still  a  human 
revolting  in  their  hearts  that  kept  them  moveless  and  silent. 
They  longed  for  the  horrible  banquet,  but  still  turned  from  it  with 
a  lingering  human  loathing.  But  Lachane  was  resolute. 

"Ah!"  said  he,  reproachfully;  "you  fear — you  would  not 
that  I  should  die  in  this  manner ;  but,  mes  amis,  you  know  me  not. 
You  know  not  how  it  will  glad  my  heart  to  know  that  its  dying 
pulse  shall  add  new  life  to  yours  Here,  Lafourche,  G-enet— you  are 


108  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

both  beside  me.  You  are  the  feeblest.  You  are  dying  fast. 
You  thirst ;  another  day  and  you  perish  !  You  have  a  mother, 
Genet — a  dear  sister,  Lafourche — why  will  you  not  live  for  them  ? 
Lo  !  you,  now, — when  I  strike  the  blow, — do  you  both  clap  your 
mouths  upon  the  wound.  Drink  freely — drink  deep — that  you 
may  have  strength — and  let  the  rest  drink  after  you.  There  ! — 
my  braves  ! — there." 

With  each  of  these  last  words,  the  brave  fellow — thence  called 
"  Lachane,  the  Deliverer" — struck  two  fatal  blows,  one  upon  his 
heart,  and  one  upon  his  throat.  He  leaned  back  between  the 
two  famished  persons  whom  he  had  especially  addressed,  and, 
while  the  consciousness  was  yet  in  the  eyes  of  the  dying  man, 
they  sprang  like  thirsting  tigers,  and  fastened  their  mouths  upon 
each  streaming  orifice.  The  victim,  smarting  and  conscious  to 
the  last,  sunk  in  a  few  seconds,  into  the  sacred  slumber  of  death. 
This  heroism  saved  the  rest.  He  had  struck  with  a  firm  hand  and 
a  resolute  spirit.  In  his  death  they  lived.  Slow  to  accept  his 
proffered  sacrifice^  he  was  scarcly  cold,  ere  the  survivors  fast- 
ened upon  his  body  ;  and,  ere  the  last  morsel  of  the  victim  was  • 
consumed,  they  had  assurances  of  safety.* 

It  seemed  as  if  expiation  had  been  done  ;  as  if  the  sacrifice  had 
purged  their  offences  and  made  them  acceptable  to  heaven.  The 
land  rose  upon  their  vision, — a  glimpse  like  that  of  salvation  to 

*  Lest  we  should  be  suspected  of  exaggeration  we  quote  a  single  sen- 
tence from  the  condensed  account  in  Charlevoix ; — "  Lachau,  celui  1& 
meme,  que  la  Capitaine  Albert  avoit  exile,  apres  1'avoir  degrade  des 
armes,  de"clara  qu'il  vouloit  bien  avancer  sa  mort,  qu'il  croyoit  inevitable, 
pour  reculer  de  quelques  jours  celle  de  ses  compagnons.  II  fut  pris  au 
mot,  et  on  1'Sgorgea  sur  le  champ,  sans  qu'il  fit  la  moindre  resistance.  U 
ne  fut  pas  perdu  une  goute  de  son  sang,  tous  en  burent  avec  aviditt,  le 
corps  fut  mis  en  pieces,  et  chacun  en  eutsapart." 


PLIGHT    AND    FAMINE.  109 

the  doomed  one, — a  sight  "  whereof  they  were  so  exceeding  glad, 
that  the  pleasure  caused  them  to  remain  a  long  time  as  men  with- 
out sense  ;  whereby  they  let  the  pinnesse  floate  this  and  that 
way  without  holding  any  right  way  or  course. n  While  thus  wan- 
dering, in  sight  of  France,  but  still  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and 
waves,  they  were  boarded  by  an  English  vessel.  Here  they  were 
recognized  by  a  Frenchman  who  happened  to  be  t>ne  of  the  crew 
that  had  accompanied  Ribault  in  his  voyage.  The  most  feeble 
were  put  upon  the  coast  of  France  ;  the  rest  were  taken  to  Eng- 
land, with  the  design  that  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  meditated  send- 
ing an  expedition  to  Florida,  might  have  the  benefit  of  their 
report. 


IX. 


THE    SECOND    EXPEDITION    OF    THE   HUGUENOTS    TO 
FLORIDA. 

The  Fortress  of  La  Caroline  and  the  Colony  of  Laudonniere. 

THUS,  unhappily,  as  we  have  seen,  ended  the  first  experiment 
of  Coligny  for  the  establishment  of  a  Huguenot  colony  in  the 
territory  of  the  Floridian.  The  disasters  which  had  attended 
the  fortunes  of  the  garrison  at  Fort  Charles,  were  due,  in  some 
degree,,  to  its  seeming  abandonment  by  their  founder.  But 
Coligny  was  blameless  in  this  abandonment.  When  Ribault 
returned  to  France,  from  his  first  voyage,  the  civil  wars  had 
again  begun,  depriving  the  admiral  of  the  means  for  succoring 
the  colony,  as  had  been  promised.  Nearly  two  years  had  now 
elapsed  from  that  period,  before  he  could  recover  the  power 
which  would  enable  him  to  send  supplies  or  recruits  for  its  main- 
tenance. In  all  this  time,  with  the  exception  of  the  small  domain 
occupied  by  Fort  Charles,  the  country  lay  wholly  derelict,  and 
in  the  keeping  of  the  savages.  But  Coligny  was  now  in  a  con- 
dition to  resume  his  endeavors  in  behalf  of  his  colony.  He 
was  again  in  possession  of  authority.  The  assassination 
of  the  Duke  of  Guise  had  restored  to  France  the  blessings  of 
peace ;  and  Coligny  seized  upon  this  interval  of  repose,  to  in- 


SECOND    EXPEDITION.  Ill 

quire  after  the  settlement  which  had  been  made  by  Ribault. 
Three  ships,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  money,  were  accorded 
to  his  application ;  and  the  new  armament  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  Rene  Laudonniere — a  man  of  intelligence,  a  good 
seaman  rather  than  a  soldier,  and  one  who  had  accompanied 
Ribault  on  his  first  expedition,  though  he  had  not  remained  with 
the  colony.*  Laudonniere  found  it  easy  enough  to  procure  his 
men,  not  only  for  the  voyage  but  the  colony.  The  civil  wars  had 
produced  vast  numbers  of  restless  and  destitute  spirits,  who 
longed  for  nothing  so  much  as  employment  and  excitement. 
Besides,  there  was  a  vague  attraction  for  the  imagination,  in  the 
tales  which  had  reached  the  European  world,  of  the  wondrous 
sweetness  and  beauty  of  the  region  to  which  they  were  invited. 
Florida  still  continued,  even  at  this  period,  to  be  the  country 
beyond  all  others  in  the  new  world,  which  appealed  to  the  fancies 
and  the  appetites  of  the  romantic,  the  selfish,  and  the  merely 
adventurous.  Ribault's  own  account  of  it  had  described  the 
wondrous  sweetness  of  its  climate,  and  the  exquisite  richness  and 
variety  of  its  fruits  and  flowers.  Then, there  were  the  old  dreams 
which  had  beguiled  the  Spanish  cavalier,  Hernando  de  Soto,  and 
had  filled  with  the  desires  and  the  hopes  of  youth,  the  aged 
heart  of  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon.  It  did  not  matter  if  death  did 
keep  the  portals  of  the  country.  This  guardianship  only  seemed 
the  more  certainly  to  denote  the  precious  treasures  which  were 
concealed  within.  In  the  absence  of  any  certain  knowledge, 
men  dreamed  of  spoils  within  its  bowels,  such  as  had  been 
yielded  to  Cortes  and  Pizarro,  by  the  great  cities  and  teeming 
mountains  of  Tenochtitlan  and  Peru.  They  had  heard  true 

*  Charlevoix  describes  Laudonniere  as  '*  un  gentilhomme  de  merite — 
bon  officier  de  marine,  et  qui  avoit  meme  servi  sur  terre  avec  distinction. 


112  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

stories  of  its  fruits  and  flowers  ;  of  its  bland  airs,  so  friendly  to 
the  invalid ;  of  its  delicious  fountains,  in  which  healing  and  joy 
lay  together  in  sweet  communion.  It  was  the  region  in  which, 
according  to  tradition,  life  enjoyed  not  only  an  exquisite,  but  an 
extended  tenure,  almost  equalling  that  of  the  antediluvian  ages. 
Its  genial  atmosphere  was  supposed  to  possess  properties  particu- 
larly favorable  to  the  prolongation  of  human  life.  Laudonniere 
himself  tells  us  of  natives  whom  he  had  seen  who  were  certainly 
more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  and  yet,  who  enter- 
tained a  reasonable  hope  of  living  fifty  or  a  hundred  years 
longer.  These  may  have  been  exaggerations,  but  they  are  such 
as  the  human  imagination  loves  to  indulge  in.  But  there  was 
comparative  truth  in  the  assertion.  Portions  of  the  Floridian 
territory  are,  to  this  day,  known  to  be  favorable  to  health  and 
longevity  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  regions  in  other  respects 
more  favored ;  and,  in  the  temperate  habits,  the  hardy  exercises, 
the  simple  lives  of  the  red-men,  unvexed  by  cares  and  anxieties, 
and  unsubdued  by  toils,  they  probably  realized  many  of  the 
alleged  blessings  of  a  golden  age.  But  the  attractions  of  this 
region  were  not  estimated  only  with  respect  to  attractions  such 
as  these.  The  fountains  of  the  marvellous  which  had  been 
opened  by  the  great  discoverers,  Columbus  and  Cortes,  Balboa 
and  Pizarro,  were  not  to  be  quickly  closed.  The  passion  for 
adventure,  in  the  exploration  of  new  countries,  made  men  easy 
of  belief;  and  any  number  of  emigrants  were  prepared  to 
accompany  our  second  Huguenot  expedition.  The  armament  of 
Laudonniere  was  ready  for  sea,  and  sailed  from  France  on  the 
22d  April,  1564.*  A  voyage  of  two  months  brought  the  voy- 

*  It  was  much  superior  to  that  originally  sent  out  with  Ribault.    "  On 
lui  donna  des  ouvriers  habiles  dans  tous  les  arts,  &c. 


SECOND    EXPEDITION.  113 

agers  to  the  shores  of  New  France,  which  they  reached  the 
25th  of  June,  1564.  The  land  made  was  very  nearly  in  the 
same  latitude  as  in  the  former  expedition.  It  was  a  favorable 
period  for  seeing  the  country  in  all  its  natural  loveliness  ;  and 
the  delight  of  the  voyagers  may  be  imagined,  when,  at  May 
River,  they  found  themselves  welcomed  by  the  Indians,  such  of 
the  whites  particularly  as  were  recognized  to  have  been  of  tho 
squadron  of  Ribault.  The  savages  hailed  them  as  personal 
friends  and  old  acquaintances.  When  they  landed,  they  were 
eagerly  surrounded  by  the  simple  and  delighted  natives,  men 
and  women,  and  conducted,  with  great  ceremonials,  to  the  spot 
where  Ribault  had  set  up  a  stone  column,  with  the  arms  of 
France,  "  upon  a  little  sandie  knappe,  not  far  from  the  mouth 
of  the  said  river."  It  was  with  a  pleased  surprise  that  Laudon- 
niere  found  the  pillar  encircled  and  crowned  with  wreaths  of  bay 
and  laurel,  with  which  the  affectionate  red-men  had  dressed  the 
stone,  in  proof  of  the  interest  which  they  had  taken  in  this  im- 
posing memorial  of  their  intercourse  with  the  white  strangers. 
The  foot  of  the  pillar  was  surrounded  by  little  baskets  of  maize 
and  beans  ;  and  these  were  brought  in  abundance,  in  token  of 
their  welcome,  and  yielded  by  these  generous  sons  of  the  forest 
to  their  new  visitors,  at  the  foot  of  the  pillar  which  they  had  thus 
consecrated  to  their  former  friendship.  They  kissed  the  column, 
and  made  the  French  do  likewise.  Their  Paracoussy,  or  king, 
was  named  Satouriova,  the  oldest  of  whose  sons,  named  Athore, 

que  utilite  dans  une  colonie  naissante.  Quantite"  de  jeune  gens  de  fa- 
mille,  et  plusiers  gentilshommes  voulurent  faire  ce  voyage  a  leurs  d£- 
pens,  et  on  y  joignoit  des  detachmens  de  soldats  choises  dans  de  vieux 
corps.  UJLdmiral  eut  soin  surtout  qu'il  n'y  eut  aucwn,  catholique  dans  cet  ar- 
mament.^ 


114  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

is  described  by  Laudonniere  as  "  perfect  in  beautie."  Satou- 
riova  presented  Laudonniere  with  a  "  wedge  of  silver"-  one  of 
those  gifts  which  by  no  means  lessened  the  importance  of  tha 
giver,  or  of  his  country,  in  the  eves  of  our  voyager.  His  natu- 
ral inquiry  was  whence  the  silver  came. 

"  Then  he  showed  me  by  evident  signes  that  all  of  it  came 
from  a  place  more  within  the  river >  by  certain  days  journeyes 
from  this  place,  and  declared  unto  us  that  all  that  which  they  had 
thereof,  they  gat  it  by  force  of  armes  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
place,  named  by  them  Thimogoa,  their  most  ancient  and  natural 
enemies,  as  hee  largely  declared.  Whereupon,  when  I  saw  with 
what  affection  and  passion  hee  spake  when  hee  pronounced 
Thimogoa,  I  understood  what  he  would  say  ;  and  to  bring  myself 
more  into  his  favour,  I  promised  him  to  accompany  him  with  all 
my  force,  if  hee  would  fight  against  them  :  which  thing  pleased 
him  in  such  sorte,  that,  from  thenceforth,  hee  promised  himselfe 
the  victorie  of  them,  and  assured  mee  that  hee  would  make  a 
voyage  thither  within  a  short  space,  and  would  commaund  his 
men  to  make  ready  their  bowes  and  furnish  themselves  with  such 
store  of  arrows,  that  nothing  should  bee  wanting  to  give  battaile 
to  Thimogoa.  In  fine,  he  prayed  me  very  earnestly  not  to  faile 
of  my  promise,  and,  in  so  doing,  he  hoped  to  procure  me  golde 
and  silver,  in  such  good  quantitie,  that  mine  affaires  should  take 
effect  according  to  mine  owne  and  his  desire." 

Here  then  we  see  cupidity  beginning  to  plant  in  place  of 
religion.  Our  Huguenot  tells  us  of  no  prayers  which  he  made,  of 
no  religious  services  which  he  ordered,  in  presence  of  the  savages, 
for  their  benefit  and  his  own.  But  his  sole  curiosity  is  to  know 
where  the  gold  grows,  and  to  prompt  the  evil  passions  of  the  red- 


SECOND    EXPEDITION  115 

men  to  violence  and  strife  with  one  another,  in  order  that  he  may 
procure  the  object  of  his  avarice. 

With  night,  the  parties  separated,  the  French  retiring  to 
their  ships  and  the  Indians  to  the  cover  of  their  forests.  But 
Laudonniere  had  something  more  to  learn.  The  next  day, 
"  being  allured  with  this  good  entertainment,"  the  visit  was  re- 
newed. "  We  found  him,  (the  Paracoussy)  under  shadow  of  an 
arbor,  accompanied  with  four-score  Indians  at  the  least,  and 
apparelled,  at  that  time,  after  the  Indian  fashion  ;  to  wit,  with  a 
great  hart's  skin  dressed  like  chamois,  and  painted  with  divers 
colours,  but  of  so  lively  a  portraiture,  and  representing  antiquity, 
with  rules  so  justly  compassed,  that  there  is  no  painter  so  exqui- 
site that  coulde  finde  fault  therewith.  The  natural  disposition  of 
this  strange  people  is  so  perfect  and  well  guided,  that,  without 
any  ayd  and  favour  of  artes,  they  are  able,  by  the  help  of  nature 
onely,  to  content  the  eye  of  artizans ;  yea,  even  of  those  which, 
by  their  industry,  are  able  to  aspire  unto  things  most  absolute." 
What  Laudonniere  means  by  the  paintings  of  the  Indians, 
"  representing  antiquity,"  is  not  so  clear.  But  it  may  be  well, 
in  this  place,  to  mention  that  we  do  not  rely  here  on  the  opinions 
of  a  mere  sailor  or  soldier.  In  this  expedition,  Coligny  had  sent 
out  a  painter  of  considerable  merit,  named  James  Le  Moyne, 
otherwise  de  Morgues,  who  was  commissioned  to  execute  colored 
drawings  of  all  the  objects  which  might  be  supposed  likely  to  in- 
terest the  European  eye.  To  this  painter  are  we  indebted  for 
numerous  pictures  of  the  people  and  the  region,  their  modes  of 
life,  costume  and  exercises,  which  are  now  invaluable. 

The  Huguenots  left  their  Indian  friends  with  reluctance.  As 
the  ships  coasted  along  the  shores,  pursuing  their  way  up  the 
river,  the  word  "  ami,"  one  of  the  few  French  words  which  the 


116  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

simple  red-men  had  retained,  resounded,  in  varied  accents,  from 
men  and  women,  who  followed  the  progress  of  the  strangers, 
running  along  the  margin  of  the  river,  as  long  as  the  ships  con- 
tinued in  sight.  The  French  have  not  often  abused  the 
hospitality  of  the  aborigines.  In  this  respect,  they  rank  much 
more  humanly  and  honorably  than  either  the  English  or  the 
Spanish  people.  With  a  greater  moral  flexibility,  which  yields 
something  to  acquire  more,  they  accommodated  themselves  to  the 
race  which  they  discovered,  and, readily  conforming  to  some  of  the 
habits  of  the  red-men,  acquired  an  influence  over  them  which  the 
people  of  no  other  nation  have  ever  been  able  to  obtain.  It  was 
with  tears  that  the  simple  hunters  along  May  River  beheld  the 
vessels  of  the  Frenchmen  gradually  sinking  from  their  eyes. 

The  vessels  of  Laudonniere  passed  up  the  river,  himself  and 
parties  of  his  people  landing  occasionally,  to  examine  particular 
spots  of  country.  They  are  everywhere  received  with  kindness. 
Two  of  the  Indian  words — "  Antipola  Bonassou," — meaning 
"  Friend  and  Brother," — the  French  made  use  of  to  secure  a 
favorable  welcome  everywhere. 

Monsieur  de  Ottigny,  a  lieutenant  of  Laudonniere,  with  a  small 
party,  is  conducted  into  the  presence  of  a  Cassique,  whose  great 
apparent  age  prompts  him  to  inquire  concerning  it.  "  Whereunto 
he  made  answer,  shewing  that  he  was  the  first  living  originall 
from  whence  five  generations  were  descended,  as  he  shewed  unto 
them  by  another  olde  man  that  sate  directly  over  against  him, 
which  farre  exceeded  him  in  age.  And  this  man  was  his  father, 
which  seemed  to  be  rather  a  dead  carkiss  than  a  living  body  ;  for 
his  sinewes,  his  veines,  his  arteries,  his  bones  and  other  partes 
appeared  so  cleerely  thorow  his  skinne,  that  a  man  might  easily  tell 
them  and  discerne  them  one  from  one  another.  Also  his  age  was  so 


SECOND    EXPEDITION.  117 

great  that  the  goode  man  had  lost  his  sight,  and  could  not  speake 
one  onely  word  but  with  exceeding  great  paine.  Monsieur  de 
Ottigni,  having  scene  so  strange  a  thing,  turned  to  the  younger  of 
these  two  olde  men,  praying  him  to  vouchsafe  to  answer  to  him 
that  which  he  demanded  touching  his  age.  Then  the  olde  man 
called  a  company  of  Indians,  and  striking  twise  upon  his  thigh, 
and  laying  his  hand  upon  two  of  them,  he  shewed  him  by  synes 
that  these  two  were  his  sonnes  ;  again  smiting  upon  their  thighes, 
he  shewed  him  others  not  so  olde  which  were  the  children  of  the 
two  first,  which  he  continued  in  the  same  manner  until  the  fifth 
generation.  But,  though  this  olde  man  had  his  father  alive,  more 
olde  than  himselfe,  and  that  bothe  of  them  did  weare  their  haire 
very  long  and  as  white  as  was  possible,  yet  it  was  tolde  them  that 
they  might  yet  live  thirtie  or  fortie  yeeres  more  by  the  course  of 
nature :  although  the  younger  of  them  both  was  not  lesse  than 
two  hundred  and  fiftie  yeeres  olde.  After  he  had  ended  his  com- 
munication he  commanded  two  young  eagles  to  be  given  to  our 
men,  which  hee  had  bred  up  for  his  pleasure  in  his  house." 

A  fitting  gift  at  the  close  of  such  a  narrative  !  Certainly,  a 
patriarchal  family ;  and,  though  we  may  doubt  the  correctness 
of  this  primitive  mode  of  computing  the  progress  of  the  sun, 
there  can  be  no  question  that  the  Floridians  were  distinguished 
by  a  longevity  wholly  unparalleled  in  modern  experience.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  anglo- American  races  who  have  since  occupied 
the  same  region,  have  shared,  in  some  degree,  in  this  prolonged 
duration  of  human  life. 

While  the  lieutenant  of  Laudonniere  was  thus  held  in  discourse 
by  the  aged  Indians,  his  commander  was  enjoying  himself  in  more 
luxurious  fashion.  A  particular  eminence  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  river  had  fixed  his  eye,  which  he  explored.  Here  he 


118  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

reposed  himself  for  several  hours.  It  is  pleasant  to  hear  our 
Frenchman's  discourse  of  the  beauty  of  the  spot  where  his  siesta 
was  enjoyed. 

"  Upon  the  top  thereof,  we  found  nothing  else  but  cedars, 
palms,  and  bay  trees,  of  so  sovereign  odor,  that  balm  smelleth 
nothing  in  comparison.  The  trees  were  environed  round  with 
vines,  bearing  grapes  in  such  quantity  that  the  number  would 
suffice  to  make  the  place  habitable.  Touching  the  pleasure  of  the 
place,  the  sea  may  be  seen  plain  and  open  from  it ;  and  more 
than  five  leagues  off,  near  the  river  Belle,  a  man  may  behold  the 
meadowes,  divided  asunder  into  isles  and  islets,  interlacing  one 
another.  Briefly,  the  place  -is  so  pleasant,  that  those  who  are 
melancholic  would  be  forced  to  change  their  humour." 

There  is  no  exaggeration  in  this.  Such  is  the  odor  of  the 
shrubs — such  is  the  picturesqueness  of  the  prospect. 

Laudonniere  departed  with  great  reluctance  from  a  region  so 
favorable  to  health,  so  beautiful  to  the  eye,  and  which  promised 
go  abundantly  of  fruits  and  mineral  treasures.  His  course  lay 
northwardly,  in  search  of  the  colony  of  Captain  Albert.  He 
passes  the  river  of  Seine,  four  leagues  distant  from  the  May,  and 
continues  to  the  mouth  of  the  Somme,  some  six  leagues  further. 
Here  he  casts  anchor,  lands,  and  is  received  with,  friendly  wel- 
come by  the  Paracoussy,  or  king  of  the  place,  whom  he  describes 
as  u  one  of  the  tallest  and  best-proportioned  men  that  may  be 
found.  His  wife  sate  by  him,  which,  besides  her  Indian  beautie, 
wherewith  she  was  greatly  endued,  had  so  virtuous  a  counte- 
nance and  modest  gravitie,  that  there  was  not  one  amongst  us  but 
did  greatly  commend  her.  She  had  in  her  traine  five  of  her 
daughters,  of  so  good  grace  and  so  well  brought  up,  that  I  easily 
persuaded  myself  that  their  mother  was  their  mistresse." 


SECOND   EXPEDITION.  119 

Here  Laudonniere  is  again  presented  with  specimens  of  the 
precious  metals,  and  here  we  find  him  already  in  consultation  with 
his  men,  touching  the  propriety  of  abandoning  the  settlement  of 
Fort  Charles,  the  fate  of  which  he  has  heard  in  his  progress 
from  the  Indians,  for  the  more  attractive  regions  of  the  river 
May.  His  arguments  for  this  preference,  may  be  given  in  his 
own  language. 

"  If  we  passed  farther  to  the  north  to  seeke  out  Port  Royall,  it 
would  be  neither  very  profitable  nor  convenient,  ....  although 
the  haven  were  one  of  the  fairest  of  the  West  Indies  :  but  that,  in 
this  case,  the  question  was  not  so  much  of  the  beautie  of  the  place 
as  of  things  necessary  to  sustains  life.  And  that  for  our  inhabiting, 
it  was  much  more  needful  for  us  to  plant  in  places  plentiful  of 
victual!,  than  in  goodly  havens,  faire,  deepe  and  pleasante  to  the 
view.  In  consideration  whereof,  I  was  of  opinion,  if  it  seemed 
goode  unto  them,  to  seate  ourselves  about  the  river  of  May :  see- 
ing also,  that,  in  our  first  voyage,  wee  found  the  same  onely,  among 
all  the  rest,  to  abounde  in  maize  and  corn  ;  besides  the  golde  and 
silver  that  was  found  there  ;  a  thing  that  put  me  in  hope  of  some 
happie  discoverie  in  time  to  come" 

Doubtless  the  last  was  the  conclusive  suggestion.  The  views 
of  Laudonniere  were  promptly  agreed  to  by  his  followers  ;  and, 
sailing  back  to  the  river  of  May,  they  reached  it  at  daybreak  on 
.the  29th  June.  "  Having  cast  anchor,  I  embarked  all  my  stuffe 
and  the  souldiers  of  my  company,  (in  the  pinnace  we  may  sup- 
pose,) to  sayle  right  towards  the  opening  of  the  river  :  wherein 
we  entered  a  good  way  up,  and  found  a  creeke  of  a  reasonable 
bignisse  which  invited  us  to  refresh  ourselves  a  little,  while  wee 
reposed  ourselves  there.  Afterward,  wee  went  on  shore  to  seeke 


120  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

out  a  place,  plaine,  without  trees,  which  wee  perceived  from  the 
creeke." 

But  this  spot,  upon  examination,  does  not  prove  commodious, 
and  it  was  determined  to  return  to  a  point  they  had  before  dis- 
covered when  sailing  up  the  river.  "  This  place  is  joyning  to  a 
mountaine  (hill),  and  it  seemed  unto  us  more  fit  and  commodious 

to  build  a  fortresse  ; therefore  we  took  our  way  towards 

the  forests Afterwards,  we  found  a  large  plaine,  covered 

with  high  pine  trees,  distant  a  little  from  the  other  ;  under  which 
we  perceived  an  infinite  number  of  stagges,  which  brayed  amidst 
the  plaine,  athwart  the  which  we  passed :  then  we  discovered  a 
little  hill  adjoyning  unto  a  great  vale,  very  greene  and  in  forme 
flat :  wherein  were  the  fairest  meadows  of  the  worlde,  and  grasse 
to  feede  cattel.  Moreover,  it  is  environed  with  a  great  number  of 
brookes  of  fresh  water,  and  high  woodes  which  make  the  vale  most 
delectable  to  the  eye." 

Laudonniere  names  this  pleasant  region  after  himself,  the  "  vale 
of  Laudonniere."  They  pass  through  it,  and,  at  length,  after 
temporary  exhaustion  from  fatigue  and  heat,  they  recover  their 
spirits,  and,  penetrating  a  high  wood,  reach  the  brink  of  the  river, 
and  the  spot  which  they  have  chosen  for  the  settlement. 

We  have  preferred,  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  to  quote  these 
details,  in  order  that  the  modern  antiquarian  may,  if  he  pleases, 
seek  for  the  traces  of  this  ancient  settlement.  The  foundation  was 
not  laid  without  due  solemnity.  Laudonniere  remembers  that  his 
people  are  Christians  ;  and,  at  the  break  of  day,  on  the  30th  June, 
1564,  the  trumpets  were  sounded,  and  our  Huguenots  were  called 
to  prayer.  The  banks  of  the  May,  otherwise  the  St.  Johns,*  then 

*  "  The  evidence,"  says  Johnson,  however,  in  an  appendix  to  his  life  of 
Greene,  "  is  in  favor  of  the  St.  Mary's,  and  would  point  to  the  first  bluff 


SECOND    EXPEDITION.  121 

echoed,  for  the  first  time,  with  a  hymn  of  lofty  cheer  from  Eu- 
ropean voices. 

"  There  we  sang  a  psalme  of  thanksgiving  unto  God." 
Prayer  was  made,  and,  gathering  courage  from  the  exercise  of 
their  devotions,  our  Huguenots  applied  themselves  to  the  duty  of 
building  themselves  a  fortress.  In  this  work  they  were  assisted 
by  the  Indians.*  A  few  days  sufficed,  with  this  help,  to  give  their 
fabric  form.  It  was  built  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle.  "  The 
side  towarde  the  west,  which  was  towarde  the  lande,  was  enclosed 
with  a  little  trench  and  raised  with  towers  made  in  forme  of  a 
battlement  of  nine  foote  high  :  the  other  side,  which  was  towarde 
the  river,  was  inclosed  with  a  palisado  of  plankes  of  timber,  after 
the  manner  that  gabions  are  made.  On  the  south  side,  there  was 
a  kinde  of  bastion,  within  which  I  caused  an  house  for  the  munition 
to  be  built.  It  was  all  builded  of  fagots  and  sand,  saving  about 
two  or  three  foote  high  with  turfes,  whereof  the  battlements  were 
made.  In  the  middest  I  caused  a  great  court  to  be  made  of 
eighteen  paces  long  and  broad ;  in  the  middest  whereof,  on.  the 
one  side,  drawing  toward  the  south,  I  builded  a  corps  de  garde, 
and  an  house,  on  the  other  side,  towarde  the  north."  *  *  * 

on  the  south  side  of  that  river."  But  this  is  certainly  a  mistake.  The 
general  conviction  now  is,  that  our  St.  John's  was  the  May  River  of  the 
French. 

*  Jacques  de  Moyne  de  Morgues  represents  the  Indian  Chief  or  Para- 
coussi  of  the  neighborhood,  Satouriova  by  name,  as  taking  great  umbrage 
at  the  erection  of  the  fortress  La  Caroline  within  his  dominions ;  thus 
differing  from  Laudonniere,  who  describes  him  and  his  subjects  as 
cheerfully  assisting -in  its  erection.  Charlevoix  undertakes  to  reconcile 
the  difference  between  them ;  but  in  a  manner  which  would  soon  leave 
the  chronicle  and  the  historian  at  the  mercy  of  the  merest  conjecture. 
The  matter  is  scarcely  of  importance. 
6 


122  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

"  One  of  the  sides  that  enclosed  my  court,  "which  I  made  very  faire 
and  large,  reached  unto  the  grange  of  my  munitions  :  and,  on  the 
other  side,  towarde  the  river,  was  mine  owne  lodgings,  round 
which  were  galleries  all  covered.  The  principal  doore  of  my 
lodging  was  in  the  middest  of  the  great  place,  and  the  other  was 
towarde  the  river.  A  good  distance  from  the  fort,  I  built  an 
oven." 

It  will  be  an  employment  of  curious  interest,  whenever  the 
people  of  Florida  shall  happen  upon  the  true  site  of  the  settlement 
and  structure  of  Laudonniere,  to  trace  out,  in  detail,  these  several 
localities,  and  fix  them  for  the  benefit  of  posterity.  The  work  is 
scarcely  beyond  the  hammer  and  chisel  of  some  Old  Mortality, 
who  has  learned  to  place  his  affections,  and  fix  his  sympathies, 
upon  the  achievements  of  the  Fast 


X. 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY. 

THUS,  then,  was  founded  the  second  European  settlement 
on  the  Continent  of  America,  The  fortress  was  named  LA 
CAROLINE,  in  honor  of  the  French  monarch,  whom  it  was  still 
the  policy  of  the  Huguenots  to  conciliate.  The  houses  were  ot 
frail  structure,  and  thatched  with  leaves  of  the  palmetto.  The 
domain  was  a  narrow  one,  but  it  was  probably  sufficiently  wide  for 
the  genius  of  Laudonniere.  He  soon  shows  himself  sensible  of  all 
his  dignities  as  the  sole  representative  of  his  master  in  the  New 
World.  From  his  own  account,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
the  proper  person  for  the  conduct  of  so  difficult,  if  not  so  great, 
an  enterprise.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  sufficiently  brave  ; 
but  bravery,  unsustained  by  judgment,  is  at  best  a  doubtful  virtue, 
and,  in  a  situation  of  great  responsibility,  is  apt  to  show  itself  at 
the  expense  of  all  discretion.  The  object  of  the  colony  of  La 
Caroline  was  a  permanent  establishment — a  place  of  refuge  from 
persecution — where  the  seeds  of  a  new  empire  might  be 
planted  on  a  basis  which  should  ensure  civil  liberty  to  the  citizen. 
The  proper  aim  of  such  a  settlement  should  have  been  security, 
self-maintenance,  and  peace  with  all  men.  These  could  only  have 
been  found  in  the  economizing  of  their  resources,  in  the  applica- 


124  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

tion  of  all  their  skill  and  industry  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil, 
and  in  the  preservation  of  the  most  friendly  relations  among  the 
Indians.  These,  unhappily,  were  not  objects  sufficiently  ap- 
preciated by  Laudonniere.  His  first  error  was  that  which  arose 
from  the  universal  passion  of  his  time.  He  had  seen  the  precious 
metals  of  the  country — wedges  of  silver  and  scraps  of  gold — 
which  declared  the  abundance  of  its  treasures,  and  aroused  all  his 
passions  for  its  acquisition.  His  whole  energies  were  accordingly 
directed  to  the  most  delusive  researches.  He  had  scarcely  built 
his  fortress  before  he  sent  off  his  exploring  expeditions.  "  I 
would  not  lose  a  minute  of  an  hour,"  is  his  language,  "  without 
imploying  the  same  in  some  vertuous  exercise,"  and  therefore  he 
despatches  his  Lieutenant,  Ottigny,  in  seeking  for  Thimogoa ;  that 
king,  hostile  to  the  Paracoussi  Satouriova,  whom  he  has  pledged 
himself  to  the  latter  to  make  war  upon.  Satouriova  gives  the 
lieutenant  a  couple  of  warriors  as  guides,  who  were  delighted  at 
the  mission, — "  seeming  to  goe  as  unto  a  wedding,  so  desirous 
they  were  to  fight  with  their  enemies." 

But  Ottigny,  whose  real  purpose  is  to  obtain  the  gold  of  the 
people  of  Thimogoa,  does  not  indulge  his  warlike  guides  in  their 
desires.  They  encounter  some  of  the  people  whom  they  seek, 
and  make  inquiries  after  the  treasure.  This  is  promised  them 
hereafter.  With  the  report  of  a  king  named  Mayrra,  who  lives 
farther  up  the  river,  and  abounds  in  gold  and  silver,  Ottigny 
returns  to  La  Caroline.  Other  adventurers  follow,  other  kings 
and  chiefs  are  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  our  Frenchmen. 
Plates  of  gold  and  silver  are  procured ;  large  bars  of  the  latter 
metal ;  and  the  lures  are  quite  sufficient  to  keep  the  colonists 
employed  in  the  one  pursuit  to  the  complete  neglect  of  every 
other.  Instead  of  planting,  they  rely  for  their  provisions  wholly 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  125 

upon  the  Indians  ;  and,  for  eighteeen  months,  the  lieutenants  of 
Laudonniere  penetrated  the  forests  in  every  possible  direction. 
They  appear  not  only  to  have  explored  the  interior  of  Florida, 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  but  to  have  prosecuted  their  insane 
search  even  to  the  Apalachian  mountains.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  our  antiquarians  frequently  stumble  upon  the  proofs 
of  their  progress,  which  they  fondly  ascribe  to  a  much  earlier 
period.  We  preserve,  as  subjects  of  proper  comparison  with 
aboriginal  words  still  in  use,  and  by  which  localities  may  yet  be 
identified,  the  names  of  many  of  the  chiefs  with  whom  our 
Frenchmen  maintained  communion.  From  the  Indians  of  King 
Mollova,  Captain  Vasseur  obtains  five  or  six  pounds  of  silver. 
Mollova  is  the  subject  of  a  greater  prince,  named  Olata  Ovae 
Utina.  The  tributaries  of  this  great  chief  are  numerous  ; — 
Cadecha,  Chilili,  Eclavou,  Enacappe,  Calany,  Anacharaqua, 
Omittaqua,  Acquera,  Moquoso,  and  many  others.  Satouriova  is 
the  chief  sovereign  along  the  waters  of  the  May.  He  too  hath 
numerous  tributaries.  He  is  the  great  rival  monarch  of  Olata 
Utina.  Potanou  is  one  of  his  chiefs,  "  a  manne  cruel  in  warre, 
but  pitiful  in  the  execution  of  his  furie.  "  He  usually  took  his 
prisoners  to  mercy,  branding  them  upon  the  arm,  and  setting 
them  free.  Onatheaqua  and  Hostaqua  are  great  chiefs,  abound- 
ing in  riches,  that  dwell  near  the  mountains.  According  to  the 
tales  of  the  Indians  of  May  River,  the  warriors  of  Olata  Utina 
"  armed  their  breasts,  armes,  thighes,  legs  and  foreheads  with 
large  plates  of  gold  and  silver."  Molona  is  a  chief  of  the  river 
of  May,  near  the  Frenchmen,  and  hostile  also  to  the  Thimogoans. 
Malica  is  another  of  these  chiefs  of  Satouriova,  eager,  like  all 
the  rest,  to  shed  the  blood  of  the  hostile  people  whom  the 
Frenchmen  have  unwisely  promised  to  destroy.  In  order  to  win 


126  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  favor  of  Molona,  while  that  Paracoussi  is  entertaining  them 
at  his  dwelling,  Capt.  Vasseur,  returning  from  an  expedition  to 
the  territories  of  Thimogoa,  reports  that  nothing  but  their  flight 
prevented  him  from  utterly  destroying  that  people.  Improving 
upon  his  superior,  one  Francis  La  Caille,  a  sergeant,  insisted  that, 
with  his  sword,  he  has  run  two  of  the  Thimogoans  through  the 
body.  But  this  falsehood  demands  another  for  its  security.  The 
suspicious  Indian  insists  upon  handling  the  sword,  "  which  the 
sergeant  would  not  denie  him,  thinking  that  hee  would  have 
beheld  the  fashion  of  his  weapon  ;  but  hee  soon  perceived  that  it 
was  to  another  ende  ;  for  the  old  man,  holding  it  in  his  hand, 
behelde  it  a  long  while  on  every  place,  to  see  if  he  could  find  any 
blood  upon  it  which  might  show  that  any  of  their  enemies  had 
beene  killed.  Hee  was  on  the  point  to  say  that  he  had  killed 
none  of  the  men  of  Thimogoa  ;  when  La  Vasseur  preventing  that 
which  hee  might  object,  showing,  that,  by  reason  of  the  two 
Indians  which  he  had  slain,  his  sword  was  so  bloody,  he  was 
enforced  to  wash  and  make  it  cleane  a  long  while  in  the  river." 

Another  of  the  chiefs,  dwelling  near  the  Frenchmen,  is  Omoloa, 
an  ally  of  Satouriova.  These  two  summon  Laudonniere  to  the 
expedition  for  which  they  have  prepared  themselves  against  the 
Thimogoans,  and  are  offended  that  he  now  excuses  himself.  He 
was  too  busy  with  his  explorations  for  any  other  object.  But  he 
sent  to  request  two  of  his  prisoners  from  Satouriova,  which  were 
denied  him ;  the  old  savage  properly  saying  that  he  owed  him  no 
service,  as  he  had  taken  no  part  in  the  expedition.  This  irri- 
tated the  Frenchman,  who,  with  twenty  soldiers,  suddenly  ap- 
peared in  the  dwelling  of  the  Paracoussi,  and  demanded  and  car- 
ried off  the  prisoners.  His  policy  was,  by  freeing  these  prisoners, 
and  sending  them  home  to  their  sovereign,  to  conciliate  his  favor ; 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  127 

but,  in  the  meantime,  he  made  an  enemy  of  Satouriova.  An 
expedition  was  prepared  to  carry  back  the  prisoners  to  Olata 
Utina.  It  was  confided  to  Monsieur  D'Erlach,  one  of  Laudon- 
niere's  lieutenants,  and  consisted  of  ten  soldiers.  Their  course 
lay  up  the  river  of  May,  more  than  fourscore  leagues.  They 
were  received  by  the  great  Paracoussi  Utina,  with  much  favor, 
and  were  easily  persuaded  by  him  to  take  part  in  a  war  which 
he  was  even  then  waging  with  his  hereditary  enemy,  Potanou* 
A  surprise  is  attempted,  and  a  battle  ensues,  in  which  the  fire- 
arms of  the  French  confound  Potanou,  and  subject  him  to  a 
sore  defeat.  One  of  his  towns  is  captured,  and  all  its  men, 
women,  and  children,  are  made  prisoners.  Monsieur  D'Erlach 
returns  to  La  Caroline,  with  no  inconsiderable  spoil  of  gold  and 
silver,  skins  painted,  and  other  commodities  of  the  Indians. 

While  thus  engaged  in  the  avaricious  search  for  the  precious 
metals,  Laudonniere  began  to  receive  some  intimations  of  the 
error  into  which  he  had  fallen.  The  mistakes  of  his  policy  were 
beginning  to  appear  in  their  consequences.  His  ships  had  long 
since  departed  for  France.  He  had  no  present  hope  but  in  him- 
self and  his  neighbors  ;  and  his  garrison  were  about  to  suffer 
from  the  want  of  necessaries  such  as  they  should  have  relied  upon 
their  own  industry  to  secure.  The  provisions  furnished  by  the 
Indians  were  rapidly  failing  them.  They  had  offended  Satouriova, 
and  thus  forfeited  the  supplies  which  his  favor  might  have  fur- 
nished. In  the  always  limited  stores  of  the  natives,  there  was  a 
natural  limit,  beyond  which  they  could  neither  sell  nor  give  ; 
since,  to  do  so,  would  be  to  lose  the  grain  necessary  for  sowing 
their  fields  at  the  approaching  season.  The  exigencies  of  the 
colonies  finally  compelled  them  to  seize  upon  the  stores  which  the 
providence  of  the  Indians  compelled  them  to  retain.  These 


128  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

thus  despoiled,  withdrew  promptly  from  the  dangerous  neighbor- 
hood, and,  but  for  a  fortunate,  and  seemingly  providential  circum- 
stance, which  afforded  them  succor  for  awhile,  the  distress  of  the 
garrison  might  have  realized  anew  the  misfortunes  of  the  people 
of  Fort  Charles.  We  must  let  Laudonniere  himself  record  the 
event,  which  had  such  beneficial  consequences,  in  his  own  lan- 
guage: 

"  Thus,"  said  he,  "  things  passed  on  in  this  manner,  and  the 
hatred  of  Paracoussi  Satouriova  against  mee  did  still  continue, 
untill  that,  on  the  nine  and  twentieth  of  August,  a  lightning  from 
heaven  fell  within  halfe  a  league  of  our  fort,  more  worthy,  I  be- 
lieve, to  be  wondered  at,  and  to  be  put  in  writing,  than  all  the 
strange  signes  which  have  beene  scene  in  times  past.  For,  al- 
though the  meadows  were  at  that  season  all  greene,  and  halfe 
covered  over  with  water,  neverthelesse  the  lightning,  in  one  in- 
stant, consumed  above  five  hundred  acres  thereof,  and  burned, 
with  the  ardent  heate  thereof,  all  the  foules  which  took  their 
pastime  in  the  meadowes — which  thus  continued  for  three  dayes 
space — which  caused  us  not  a  little  to  muse,  not  being  able  to 
judge  whence  this  fire  proceeded.  One  while  we  thought  that 
the  Indians  had  burnt  their  houses  and  abandoned  their  places 
for  feare  of  us.  Another  while  we  thought  that  they  had  dis- 
covered some  shippes  in  the  sea,  and  that,  according  to  their 
custome,  they  had  kindled  many  fires  here  and  there  *  *  *  I 
determined  to  sende  to  Paracoussi  Serranay  to  knowe  the  truth. 
But,  even  as  I  was  about  to  sende  one  by  boate,  sixe  Indians 
came  unto  me  from  Paracoussi  Allimicany,  which,  at  their  first 
entrie,  made  unto  inee  a  long  discourse,  and  a  very  large  and 
ample  oration  (after  they  had  presented  mee  with  certain  baskets 
full  of  maiz,  of  pompions,  and  of  grapes),  of  the  loving  amity 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  129 

which  Allimicany  desired  to  continue  with  mee,  and  that  he 
looked,  from  day  to  day,  when  it  would  please  mee  to  employ 
him  in  my  service.  Therefore,  considering  the  serviceable  affec- 
tion that  hee  bare  unto  mee,  he  found  it  very  strange  that  I  thus 
discharged  mine,  ordnance  against  his  dwelling,  which  had  burnt 
up  an  infinite  sight  of  greene  meadowes,  and  consumed  even 
downe  unto  the  bottom  of  the  water." 

The  simple  message  of  the  Paracoussi,  suggested  some  advan- 
tages to  Laudonniere,  who  did  not  now  scruple  to  admit  that  all 
the  mischief  had  been  done  by  his  wanton  ordnance.  He  had 
shot,  not  really  to  injure  his  neighbor,  but  to  let  him  form  a  pro- 
per idea  of  what  he  might  do,  in  the  way  of  mischief,  should  he 
have  the  provocation  at  any  time.  Since,  however,  the  Para- 
coussi had  come  to  the  recollection  of  his  duties,  he,  Laudonniere, 
would  protect  him  hereafter.  The  red-man  had  only  to  continue 
faithful,  and  the  white  man  would  stifle  his  ordnance. 

The  sequel  of  this  strange  fire  from  heaven,  may  be  given  in 
few  words.  For  three  days  it  remained  unextinguished,  and,  for 
two  more  days,  the  heat  in  the  atmosphere  was  insupportable. 
The  river  suffered  from  a  sympathetic  heat,  and  seemed  ready 
to  seethe.  The  fish  in  it  died  in  such  abundance,  of  all  sorts, 
that  enough  were  founde  to  have  laden  fiftie  carts.  The  air  be- 
came putrid  with  the  effluvia ;  the  greater  number  of  the  garrison 
fell  sick,  and  suffered  nearly  to  death  ;  while  the  poor  savages 
removed  to  a  distance  from  the  region,  which,  since  the  settle- 
ment of  the  colonists,  had  been  productive  of  little  but  mischief 
unto  them.  The  distress  of  Laudonniere,  under  these  events,  was 
increased  by  discontents  and  mutinies  among  his  people.  They 
were  not  of  a  class  so  docile  as  their  predecessors  under  Albert. 
These,  certainly,  would  not  have  borne  so  patiently  with  such  a 


130  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

sway.  The  government  of  Laudonniere,  if  not  a  wise,  was  not 
a  brutal  or  despotic  one.  But  they  threatened  equally  his  peace 
and  safety.  They  had  cause  for  apprehension,  if  not  for  com- 
motion. The  promised  supplies  from  France,  which  were  to  be 
brought  by  Ribault,  had  failed  to  arrive,  and  the  discontent  in 
the  colony  was  beginning  to  assume  an  aspect  the  most  serious. 
At  this  point,  our  narrative  must  enter  somewhat  more  into  de- 
tails, and,  for  the  sake  of  compactness,  we  must  somewhat  anti- 
cipate events. 


XL 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENR&. 

HISTORICAL    SUMMARY. 

THE  necessities  of  the  colony  now  began  to  open  the  eyes  of 
Laudonniere  in  respect  to  the  errors  of  which  he  had  been  guilty. 
He  found  it  important  to  discontinue  his  explorations  among  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  to  employ  his  garrison  in  domestic  labors. 
They  must  either  work  or  starve.  Their  tasks  in.  the  fields  were 
assigned  accordingly.  This  produced  discontent  among  those 
who,  having  for  some  time,  in  Europe  as  well  as  recently  in  the 
new  world,  been  chiefly  employed  as  soldiers,  regarded  labor  as 
degrading,  and  still  flattered  themselves  with  the  more  agreeable 
hope  of  achieving  their  fortunes  by  shorter  processes.  Their  appe- 
tite for  the  precious  metals  had  been  sufficiently  enlivened  by  the 
glimpses  which  had  been  given  them,  during  their  intercourse 
with  the  natives,  of  the  unquestionable  treasures  of  the  country. 
It  was  still  farther  whetted  by  the  influence  of  two  persons  of  the 
garrison.  One  of  these  was  named  La  Roquette,  of  the  country 
of  Perigort ;  the  other  was  known  as  Le  Genre,  a  lieutenant,  and 
somewhat  in  the  confidence  of  Laudonniere.  Le  Genre  was  the 


132  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

bold  conspirator.  La  Roquette  was  perhaps  quite  as  potential, 
though  from  art  rather  than  audacity.  He  pretended  to  be  a 
great  magician,  and  acquired  large  influence  over  the  more  igno- 
rant soldiers  on  the  score  of  his  supposed  capacity  to  read  the 
book  of  fate.  Among  his  professed  discoveries  through  this 
medium,  were  certain  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  far  in  the  interior, 
the  wealth  of  which  was  such — and  he  pledged  his  life  upon  it — 
that,  upon  a  fair  division,  after  awarding  the  king's  portion,  each 
soldier  would  receive  not  less  than  ten  thousand  crowns.  The 
arguments  and  assurances  of  La  Roquette  persuaded  Le  Genre, 
among  the  rest.  He  was  exceedingly  covetous,  and  sought  eagerly 
all  royal  roads  for  the  acquisition  of  fortune.  He  was  more  easily 
beguiled  into  conspiracy,  in  consequence  of  the  refusal  of  Laudon- 
niere  to  give  him  the  command  of  a  packet  returning  into  France. 
It  was  determined  to  depose  and  destroy  the  latter.  Several 
schemes  were  tried  for  this  purpose ;  by  poison,  by  gunpowder, 
all  of  which  failed,  and  resulted  in  the  ruin  only  of  the  conspir- 
ators. With  this  introduction  we  introduce  the  reader  more 
particularly  to  the  parties  of  our  history. 


XII. 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENRE.—  CHAP.  I. 


LE  GrENRfc,  one  of  the  lieutenants  of  Laudonniere,  was  of 
fierce  and  intractable  temper.  His  passions  had  been  thwarted 
by  his  superior,  whose  preferences  were  clearly  with  another  of 
his  lieutenants,  named  D'Erlach.*  This  preference  was  quite 
sufficient  to  provoke  the  envy  and  enmity  of  Le  Genre.  His 
dislike  was  fully  retorted,  and  with  equal  spirit  by  his  brother 
officer.  But  the  feelings  of  D'Erlach,  who  was  the  more  noble 
and  manly  of  the  two,  were  restrained  by  his  prudence  and  sense 
of  duty.  It  had  been  the  task  of  Laudonniere  more  than  once 
to  interfere  between  these  persons,  and  prevent  those  outrages 
which  he  had  every  reason  to  apprehend  from  their  mutual 
excitability  ;  and  it  was  partly  with  the  view  to  keep  the  parties 
separate,  that  he  had  so  frequently  despatched  D'Erlach  upon 
his  exploring  expeditions.  One  of  these  appointments,  however, 
which  Le  Genre  had  desired  for  himself,  had  given  him  no  little 
mortification  when  he  found  that,  as  usual,  D'Erlach  had  received 

*  Laudonniere,  in  Hakluyt,  spells  this  name  improperly.  It  is  properly 
written  D'Erlach.  "  Ce  Gentilhomme,"  says  Charlevoix,  "  etoit  Suisse, 
et  il  n'y  a  point  de  maison  de  Suisse  plus  connue  que  celle  d'Erlach." 


134  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  preference  from  his  superior.  It  was  no  proper  disparagement 
of  the  claims  of  others  that  D'Erlach  had  been  thus  preferred. 
That  he  was  a  favorite,  was,  perhaps,  quite  as  much  due  to  his 
own  merits  as  to  the  blind  partiality  of  his  superior.  In  choosing 
him  for  the  command  of  his  most  important  expeditions,  Laudon- 
niere  was,  in  fact,  doing  simple  justice  to  the  superior  endowments 
of  caution,  prudence,  moderation,  and  firmness,  which  the  young 
officer  confessedly  possessed  in  very  eminent  degree.  But  Le 
Genre  was  not  the  person  to  recognize  these  arguments,  or  to 
acknowledge  the  superior  fitness  of  his  colleague.  His  discon- 
tents, fanned  by  the  arts  of  others,  and  daily  receiving  provoca- 
tion from  new  causes,  finally  wrought  his  blood  into  such  a  state 
of  feverish  irritation,  as  left  but  little  wanting  to  goad  him  to 
actual  insubordination  and  mutiny. 

Laudonniere  was  not  ignorant  of  the  factious  spirit  of  his  dis- 
contented lieutenant.  He  had  been  warned  by  D'Erlach  that  he 
was  a  person  to  be  watched,  and  his  own  observations  had  led 
him  equally  to  this  conviction.  His  eye,  accordingly,  was  fixed 
keenly  and  suspiciously  upon  the  offender,  but  cautiously,  however, 
so  as  to  avoid  giving  unnecessary  pain  or  provocation.  But 
Laudonniere 's  vigilance  was  partial  only  ;  and  his  suspicions  were 
by  no  means  so  intense  as  those  of  D'Erlach.  Besides,  his  atten- 
tion was  divided  among  his  discontents.  He  had  become  pain- 
fully conscious  that  Le  Genre  was  not  alone  in  his  factious  feelings. 
He  felt  that  the  spirit  of  this  officer  was  widely  spreading  in  the 
garrison.  The  moods  of  others,  sullen,  peevish,  and  doubtful, 
had  already  startled  his  fears ;  and  he  too  well  knew  the  character 
of  his  personnel,  and  from  what  sources  they  had  been  drawn,  not 
to  be  apprehensive  of  their  tempers.  Signs  of  insubordination 
had  been  shown  already,  on  various  occasions ;  and  had  not 


THE    CONSPIRACY    OP   LE    GENKfe.  135 

Laudonniere  been  of  that  character  which  more  easily  frets  with 
its  doubts  than  provides  against  them,  he  might  have  legitimately 
employed  a  salutary  punishment  in  anticipating  worse  offences. 
The  looks  of  many  had  become  habitually  sullen,  their  words  few 
and  abrupt  when  addressed  to  their  commander,  while  their  tasks 
were  performed  coldly  and  with  evident  reluctance.  Without 
exhibiting  any  positive  or  very  decided  conduct,  by  which  to  leave 
themselves  open  to  rebuke,  their  deportment  was  such  as  to 
betray  the  impatience  of  bitter  and  resentful  moods,  which  only 
forbore  open  utterance  by  reason  of  their  fears.  Laudonniere, 
without  having  absolute  cause  to  punish,  was  equally  wanting  in 
the  nice  tact  which  can,  adroitly,  and  without  a  fall  from  dignity, 
conciliate  the  inferior.  Angry  at  the  appearances  which  he  could 
neither  restrain  nor  chastise,  he  was  not  sufficiently  the  com- 
mander to  descend  happily  to  soothe.  In  this  distracted  condition 
of  mind,  he  prepared  to  despatch  his  third  and  last  vessel  to 
France,  to  implore  the  long-expected  supplies  and  assistance. 

It  was  a  fine  evening,  at  the  close  of  September,  such  an 
evening  as  we  frequently  experience  during  that  month  in  the 
South,  when  a  cool  breeze,  arising  from  the  ocean,  ascends  to  the 
shores  and  the  forests,  and  compensates,  by  its  exquisite  and 
soothing  freshness,  for  the  burning  heat  and  suffocating  atmos- 
phere of  the  day.  Our  Frenchmen  at  La  Caroline  were  prepared 
to  enjoy  the  embraces  of  this  soothing  minister.  Some  walked 
upon  the  parapets  of  the  fortress,  others  lay  at  length  along  the 
bluff  of  the  river,  while  others  again,  in  the  shade  of  trees  farther 
inland,  grouped  together  in  pleasant  communion,  enjoyed  the  song 
or  the  story,  with  as  much  gaiety  as  if  all  their  cares  were  about 
to  be  buried  with  the  sun  that  now  hung,  shorn  of  his  fiery  locks, 
just  above  the  horizon.  Laudonniere  passed  among  these  groups 


136  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

with  the  look  of  one  who  did  not  sympathize  with  their  enjoy- 
ments. He  was  feeble,  dull,  and  only  just  recovering  from  a 
sickness  which  had  nigh  been  fatal.  His  eye  rested  upon  the 
river  where  lay  the  vessel,  the  last  remaining  to  his  command, 
which,  in  two  days  more,  was  to  be  despatched  for  France.  He 
had  just  left  her,  and  his  course  now  lay  for  the  deep  woods,  a 
mile  or  more  inland.  He  was  followed,  or  rather  accompanied,  by 
a  youth,  apparently  about  nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age — a 
younger  brother  of  D'Erlach,  his  favorite  lieutenant.  This 
young  man  shared  in  the  odium  of  his  brother,  as  he  also  was 
supposed  to  enjoy  too  largely  the  favors  of  Laudonniere.  The 
truth  was,  that  he  was  much  more  the  favorite  than  his  brother. 
He  was  a  youth  of  great  intelligence  and  sagacity,  observing 
mind,  quick  wit,  and  shrewd,  capacious  remark.  The  slower 
thought  of  his  commander  was  quickened  by  his  intelligence,  and 
relied,  much  more  than  the  latter  would  have  been  willing  to 
allow,  upon  the  insinuated,  rather  than  expressed,  suggestions  of 
the  youth.  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  but  for  his  breadth  of  shoulders 
and  activity  of  muscle,  would  have  seemed  delicately  made.  He 
was  certainly  effeminately  habited.  He  had  a  boyish  love  of 
ornament  which  was  perhaps  natural  at  his  age,  but  it  had  been 
observed  that  his  brother  Achille,  though  thirty-five,  displayed 
something  of  a  like  passion.  Our  youth  wore  his  dagger  and  his 
pistols,  the  former  hung  about  his  neck  by  a  scarf,  and  the  latter 
were  stuck  in  the  belt  about  his  waist.  The  dagger  was  richly 
hilted,  and  the  pistols,  though  of  excellent  structure,  were  rather 
more  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  their  ornaments  than  for  their 
size  and  seeming  usefulness  as  weapons  for  conflict. 

"  And  you  think,  Alphonse,"  said  Laudonniere,  when  they  had 


THE    CONSPIBACY    OP    LE    GENRE.  137 

entered  the  wood,  "  that  Le  Genre  is  really  anxious  to  return  to 
France  in  the  Sylph." 

"  I  say  nothing  about  his  return  to  France,  but  that  he  will 
apply  to  you  for  the  command  of  the  Sylph,  I  am  very  certain." 

"  Well !     And  you  ? " 

"  Would  let  him  have  her." 

"  Indeed !  I  am  sorry,  Alphonse,  to  hear  you  say  so.  Le 
Genre  is  not  fit  for  such  a  trust.  He  has  no  judgment,  no 
discretion.  It  would  be  a  hundred  to  one  that  he  never  reached 
France." 

"  That  is  just  my  opinion,"  said  the  youth,  coolly. 

"  Well !  And  with  this  opinion,  you  would  have  me  risk  the 
vessel  in  his  hands  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  would !  The  simple  question  is,  not  so  much  the 
safety  of  the  vessel  as  our  own.  He  is  a  dangerous  person.  His 
presence  here  is  dangerous  to  us.  If  he  stays,  unless  our  force  is 
increased,  in  another  month  he  will  have  the  fortress  in  his  hands ; 
he  will  be  master  here.  You  have  no  power  even  now  to  prevent 
him.  You  know  not  whom  to  trust.  The  very  parties  that  you 
arm  and  send  out  for  provisions,  might,  if  they  pleased,  turn  upon 
and  rend  us.  If  he  were  not  the  most  suspicious  person  in  the 
world — doubtful  of  the  very  men  that  serve  him — he  would  soon 
bring  the  affair  to  an  issue.  Fortunately,  he  doubts  rather  more 
than  we  confide.  He  knows  not  his  own  strength,  and  your  seem- 
ing composure  leads  him  to  overrate  ours.  But  he  is  getting  wiser. 
The  conspiracy  grows  every  day.  I  am  clear  that  you  should  let 
him  go,  take  his  vessel,  pick  his  crew,  and  disappear.  He  will  not 
go  to  France,  that  I  am  certain.  He  will  shape  his  course  for  the 
West  Indies  as  soon  as  he  is  out  of  our  sight,  and  be  a  famous 
picaroon  before  the  year  is  over." 


138  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Alphonse,  you  are  an  enemy  of  Le  Genre." 

"  That  is  certain,"  replied  the  youth ;  "  but  if  I  am  hia 
enemy,  that  is  no  good  reason  why  I  should  be  the  enemy  of 
truth." 

"  True,  but  you  suspect  much  of  this.     You  know  nothing." 

"  I  know  all  that  I  have  told  you,"  replied  the  young  man, 
warmly.  . 

"Indeed!     How?" 

"  That  I  cannot  tell.  Enough  that  I  am  free  to  swear  upon 
the  Holy  Evangel,  that  all  I  say  is  true.  Le  Genre  is  at  the 
head  of  a  faction  which  is  conspiring  against  you." 

"  Can  you  give  me  proof  of  this  ?" 

"  Yes,  whenever  you  dare  issue  the  order  for  his  arrest  and  that 
of  others.  But  this  you  cannot  do.  You  must  not.  They  are 
too  strong  for  you.  If  Achille  were  here  now  !'' 

"Ay!     Would  he  were  !" 

They  now  paused,  as  if  the  end  of  their  walk  had  been  reached. 
Laudonniere  wheeled  about,  with  the  purpose  of  returning.  They 
had  not  begun  well  to  retrace  their  steps  before  the  figure  of  a 
person  was  seen  approaching  them. 

"  Speak  of  the  devil,"  said  Alphonse,  "  and  he  thinks  himself 
called  ;  here  comes  Le  Genre." 

"  Indeed  !"  said  Laudonniere. 

"  See  now  if  I  am  not  right — he  comes  to  solicit  the  command 
of  the  Sylph." 

They  were  joined  by  the  person  of  whom  they  had  been  speak- 
ing. His  approach  was  respectful — his  manner  civil — his  tones 
subdued.  There  was  certainly  a  change  for  the  better  in  his 
deportment.  A  slight  smile  might  have  been  seen  to  turn  the 
corner  of  the  lips  of  young  D'Erlach,  as  he  heard  the  address  of 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OP  LE  GENK&.  139 

the  new  comer.  Le  Genre  began  by  requesting  a  private  inter- 
view with  his  commander.  Upon  the  words,  D'Erlach  went  aside 
and  was  soon  out  of  hearing.  His  prediction  was  true.  Le  .Genre 
respectfully,  but  earnestly,  solicited  the  command  of  the  vessel 
about  to  sail  for  France.  He  was  civilly  but  positively  denied. 
Laudonniere  had  not  been  impressed  by  the  suggestion  of  his 
youthful  counsellor ;  or,  if  he  were,  he  was  not  prepared  to  yield 
a  vessel  of  the  king,  with  all  its  men  and  munitions,  to  the  con- 
trol of  one  who  might  abuse  them  to  the  worst  purposes  The 
face  of  Le  Genre  changed  upon  this  refusal. 

"  You  deny  me  all  trust,  Monsieur,"  he  said.  "  You  refused 
me  the  command  when  my  claim  was  at  least  equal  to  that  of 
Ottigny.  You  denied  me  that  which  you  gave  to  D'Erlach, 
and  now — Monsieur,  do  you  hold  me  incompetent  to  this 
command  ?" 

"  Nay,"  said  Laudonniere,  "  but  I  better  prefer  your  services 
here — I  cannot  so  well  dispense  with  them." 

A  bitter  smile  crossed  the  lips  of  the  applicant. 

"  I  cannot  complain  of  a  refusal  founded  upon  so  gracious  a 
compliment.  But,  enough,  Monsieur,  you  refuse  me !  May  I 
ask,  who  will  be  honored  with  this  command  ?" 

"Lenoir!" 

"  I  thought  so — another  favorite  !  Well ! — Monsieur,  I  wish 
you  a  good  evening." 

"  You  have  refused  him,  I  see,"  said  Alphonse,  returning  as 
the  other  disappeared. 

"  Yes,  I  could  do  no  less.  The  very  suggestion  that  he  might 
convert  the  vessel  to  piratical  purposes,  was  enough  to  make  me 
resolve  against  him." 

And,  still  discussing  that  and  other  kindred  subjects,  Laudon- 


140  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

nierre  and  his  young  companion  followed  in  the  steps  of  La 
Genre  towards  the  fortress. 


CHAPTER     II. 

THAT  night  the  young  Alphonse  D'Erlach  might  have  been 
seen  stealing  cautiously  from  the  quarters  of  Laudonnierre,  and 
winding  along  under  cover  of  the  palisades  to  one  of  the  entrances 
of  the  fortress.  He  was  wrapped  in  a  huge  and  heavy  cloak 
which  effectually  disguised  his  person.  Here  he  was  joined  by 
another,  whom  he  immediately  addressed  : 

"  Bon  Pre  ?" 

"The  same:  all's  ready." 

"  Have  they  gone  ?" 

"Yes!" 

"Let  us  go."  ?V 

They  went  together  to  the  entrance.  The  person  whom 
Alphonse  called  Bon  Pre,  was  a  short,  thick-set  person,  fully 
fifty  years  of  age.  They  approached  the  sentry  at  the  gate. 

"  Let  us  out,  my  son,"  said  Bon  Pre  ;  "  we  are  late.'' 

When  they  were  without  the  walls,  they  stole  along  through 
the  ditch,  concealed  in  the  deep  shade  of  the  place,  cautiously 
avoiding  all  exposure  to  the  star-light.  On  reaching  a  certain 
point,  they  ascended,  and,  taking  the  cover  of  bush  and  tree, 
made  their  way  to  the  river,  and  getting  into  a  boat  which  lay 
beneath  the  banks,  pushed  off,  and  suffered  her  to  drop  down  the 
stream,  the  old  man  simply  using  the  paddle  to  shape  her  course. 
A  brief  conversation,  in  whispers,  followed  between  them. 


THE    CONSPIRACY    OF    LE    GENR^.  141 

"  You  told  him  all  ?"  asked  Bon  Pre. 

"  No  ;  but  just  enough  for  our  purpose.  As  I  told  you,  he 
believes  nothing.  He  is  too  good  a  man  himself  to  believe  any 
body  thoroughly  bad." 

"  He  will  grow  wiser  before  he  is  done.  You  did  not  suffer 
him  to  know  where  you  got  your  information  ?" 

"  No — surely  not.  He  would  have  been  for  having  a  court, 
and  a  trial,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  You  would  have  sworn  to 
the  truth  in  vain,  and  they  would  assassinate  you.  We  must  only 
do  what  we  can  to  prevent,  and  leave  the  punishment  for  another 
season.  If  time  is  allowed  us " 

"  Ay,  but  that  "  if !"  said  the  old  man.  "  Time  will  not  be 
allowed.  Le  Genre  will  be  rather  slow — but  there  are  some 
persons  not  disposed  to  wait  for  the  return  of  the  parties  under 
Ottigny  and  your  brother." 

"  Enough  !"  said  D'Erlach— "  Here  is  the  cypress." 

With  these  words,  the  course  of  the  canoe  was  arrested,  the 
prow  turned  in  towards  the  shore,  and  adroitly  impelled,  by  the 
stroke  of  Bon  Pre's  paddle,  directly  into  the  cavernous  opening 
of  an  ancient  cypress  which  stood  in  the  water,  but  close  to  the 
banks.  This  ancient  tree  stood,  as  it  were,  upon  two  massive 
abutments.  The  cavern  into  which  the  boat  passed  was  open  in 
like  manner  on  the  opposite  side.  The  prow  of  the  canoe  ran  in 
upon  the  land,  while  the  stern  rested  within  the  body  of  the  tree. 
Alphonse  cautiously  stepped  ashore,  and  was  followed  by  his  older 
companion.  They  were  now  upon  the  same  side  of  the  river 
with  the  fortress.  The  course  which  they  had  taken  had  two 
objects.  To  avoid  fatigue  and  detection  in  a  progress  by  land, 
and  to  reach  a  given  point  in  advance  of  the  conspirators,  who 
had  taken  that  route.  Of  course,  our  two  companions  had  timed 


142  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

their  movements  with  reference  to  the  previous  progress  of  the 
former.  They  advanced  in  the  direction  of  the  fort,  which  lay 
some  three  miles  distant,  but  at  the  distance  of  fifty  or  sixty 
yards  from  the  place  where  they  landed,  came  to  a  knoll  thickly 
overgrown  with  trees  and  shrubbery.  A  creek  ran  at  its  foot,  in 
the  bed  of  which  stood  numerous  cypresses — amongst  these 
Alphonse  D'Erlach  disappeared,  while  Bon  Pre  ascended  the 
knoll,  and  seated  himself  in  waiting  upon  a  fallen  cypress. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait.  In  less  than  twenty  minutes,  a 
whistle  was  heard — to  which  Bon  Pre  responded,  in  the  notes  of 
an  owl.  The  sound  of  voices  followed,  and,  after  a  little  interval, 
one  by  one,  seven  persons  ascended  the  knoll,  and  entered  the 
area  which  was  already  partially  occupied  by  Bon  Pre.  There 
were  few  preliminaries,  and  Le  Genre  opened  the  business. 
Bon  Pre,  it  is  seen,  was  one  of  the  conspirators  and  in  their 
fullest  confidence.  He  had  left  the  fort  before  them,  or  had 
pretended  to  do  so.  They  had  each  left  at  different  periods. 
We  have  seen  his  route.  It  is  only  necessary  to  add,  that  they 
had  come  together  but  a  little  while  before  their  junction  at  the 
knoll.  Of  course,  their  several  revelations  had  yet  to  be  made. 
Le  Genre  commenced  by  relating  his  ill  success  in  regard  to  the 
vessel. 

"  We  must  have  it,  at  all  hazards,"  said  Stephen  Le  Genevois, 
"we  can  do  nothing  without  it." 

"  I  do  not  see  that ;"  was  the  reply  of  Jean  La  Roquette. 
This  person,  it  may  be  well  to  say,  was  one  possessing  large  in- 
fluence among  the  conspirators.  He  claimed  to  be  a  magician, 
dealt  much  in  predictions,  consulted  the  stars,  and  other  signs, 
as  well  of  earth  as  of  heaven  ;  and,  among  other  things,  pretended, 
by  reason  of  his  art,  to  know  where,  at  no  great  distance,  was  a  mine 


THE   CONSPIRACY   OF   LE   GENRfc  143 

of  silver,  the  richest  in  the  world.  Almost  his  sole  reason  for 
linking  himself  with  the  conspirators,  was  the  contempt  with 
which  his  pretensions  had  been  treated  by  his  commander,  in  re- 
gard to  the  search  after  this  mine. 

"  I  do  not  see,"  he  replied,  "  that  this  vessel  is  so  necessary  t 
us.     A  few  canoes  will  serve  us  better." 

"  Canoes — for  what  ?"  was  the  demand  of  Le  Genevois. 

"  Why,  for  ascending  the  rivers,  for  avoiding  the  fatigue  of 
land  travel,  for  bringing  down  our  bullion." 

"  Pshaw  !  You  are  at  your  silver  mine  again  ;  but  that  is  slow 
work.  I  prefer  that  which  the  Spaniard  has  already  gathered ; 
which  he  has  run  into  solid  bars  and  made  ready  for  the  king's 
face.  I  prefer  fighting  for  my  silver,  to  digging  for  it.'' 

Ay  !  fighting — no  digging ;"  said  Le  Genre  and  he  was  echoed 
by  other  voices.  But  La  Roquette  was  not  to  be  silenced.  His 
opinions  were  re-stated  and  insisted  upon  with  no  small  vehe- 
mence, and  the  controversy  grew  warm  as  to  the  future  course  of 
the  party — whether  they  should  explore  the  land  for  silver  ore, 
or  the  Spanish  seas  for  bullion. 

*{  Messieurs,"  said  one  named  Fourneaux,  "  permit  me  to  say 
that  you  are  counting  your  chickens  before  they  are  out  of  the 
shell.  Why  cumber  our  discussion  with  unnecessary  difficulties  ? 
The  first  thing  to  consider  is  how  to  get  our  freedom.  We  can 
determine  hereafter  what  use  we  shall  make  of  it.  There  are 
men  enough,  or  will  be  enough,  when  we  have  got  rid  of  Lau- 
donniere,  to  undertake  both  objects.  Some  may  take  the  seas, 
and  some  the  land ;  some  to  digging.  Each  man  to  his  taste. 
All  may  be  satisfied — there  need  be  no  restraint.  The  only  mat- 
ter now  to  be  adjusted,  is  to  be  able  to  choose  at  all.  Let  us  not 
torn  aside  from  the  subject." 


144  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

These  sensible  suggestions  quieted  the  parties,  and  each  pro- 
ceeded to  report  progress.  One  made  a  return  of  the  men  he 
had  got  over,  another  of  the  arms  in  possession,  and  a  third  of 
ammunition.  But  the  question  finally  settled  down  upon  the  fate 
of  Laudonniere,  and  a  few  of  his  particular  friends,  the  young 
D'  Erlach  being  the  first  among  them.  On  this  subject,  the  con- 
spirators not  only  all  spoke,  but  they  all  spoke  together.  They 
were  vehement  enough,  willing  to  destroy  their  enemy,  but  their 
words  rather  declared  their  anger,  than  any  particular  mode  of 
effecting  their  object.  At  length  Fourneaux  again  spoke. 

"  Messieurs,"  said  he,  "  you  all  seem  agreed  upon  two  things  ; 
the  first  is,  that,  before  we  can  do  anything,  Laudonniere  and  that 
young  devil,  D'Erlach,  must  be  disposed  of;  the  second,  that  this 
is  rather  a  difficult  matter.  It  is  understood  that  they  may  rally  a 
sufficient  force  to  defeat  us — that  we  are  not  in  the  majority  yet, 
though  we  hope  to  be  so  ;  and  that  a  great  number  who  are  now 
slow  to  join  us,  will  be  ready  enough,  if  the  blow  were  once  struck 
successfully.  In  this,  I  think,  you  all  perfectly  agree." 

"  Ay — ay !  There  you  are  right — that's  it ;"  was  the  response 
of  Le  Genre  and  Stephen  Le  G-enevois. 

«  Yery  well ;  now,  as  it  is  doubtful  who  are  certainly  the  friends 
of  Laudonniere,  it  is  agreed  that  we  must  move  against  him 
secretly.  Is  there  any  difficulty  in  this  ?  There  are  several  ways 
of  getting  rid  of  an  enemy  without  lifting  dagger  or  pistol.  Is 
not  the  magician  here — the  chemist,  La  Roquette  ? — has  he  no 
knowledge  of  certain  poisons,  which,  once  mingled  in  the  drink  of 
a  captain,  can  shut  his  eyes  as  effectually  as  if  it  were  done  with 
bullet  or  steel  ?  And  if  this  fails,  are  there  not  other  modes  of 
contriving  an  accident  ?  I  have  a  plan  now,  which,  with  your 
leave,  I  think  the  very  thing  for  our  purpose.  Laudonniere's 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENR&.  145 

quarters,  as  you  all  know,  stand  apart  from  all  the  rest,  with  the 
exception  of  the  little  building  occupied  by  the  division  of  Le 
Genre,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  the  old  bath-room.  This 
bath-room  is  abandoned  since  Laudonniere  has  taken  to  the  river. 
Suppose  Le  Genre  here  should,  for  safe-keeping,  put  a  keg  of 
gunpowder  under  the  captain's  quarters  ?  and  suppose  farther, 
that,  by  the  merest  mischance,  he  should  suffer  a  train  of  powder 
to  follow  his  footsteps,  as  he  crawls  from  one  apartment  to  tho 
other ;  and  suppose  again,  that,  while  Laudonniere  sleeps,  some 
careless  person  should  suffer  a  coal  of  fire  to  rest,  only  for  a  mo- 
ment, upon  the  train  in  the  bath-house.  By  my  life,  I  think  such 
an  accident  would  spare  us  the  necessity  of  attempting  the  life  of 
our  beloved  captain.  It  would  be  a  sort  of  providential  inter- 
position." 

"  Say  no  more  !  It  shall  be  done  !"  said  Le  Genre.  "  I  will 
do  it !" 

"  Ay,  should  the  other  measure  fail ;  but  I  am  for  trying  the 
poison  first  ;"  said  Fourneaux,  "  for  such  an  explosion  would  send 
a  few  fragments  of  timber  about  other  ears  than  those  of  the  cap- 
tain. He  takes  his  coffee  at  sunrise.  Can  we  not  drug  it  ?" 

"  Let  that  be  my  task  ;"  said  old  Bon  Pre,  who  had  hitherto 
taken  little  part  in  this  conference. 

"  You  are  the  very  man,"  said  Fourneaux.  "  He  takes  his 
coffee  from  your  hands.  La  Roquette  will  provide  the  poison." 

"  When  shall  this  be  done  ?"  demanded  Le  Genre.  "  We  can 
do  nothing  to-night.  It  will  require  time  to-morrow  to  prepare 
the  tram." 

"  Ay,  that  is  your  part ;  but  may  not  Bon  Pre  do  his  to-mor- 
row ?  and  should  he  fail " 

7 


146  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM 

"  Why  should  he  fail  ?"  demanded  La  Roquette.  "  Let  him 
but  dress  his  coffee  with  my  spices,  and  he  cannot  fail." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Bon  Pre,  "  but  it  is  not  always  that  Laudon- 
niere  drinks  his  coffee.  If  he  happens  to  be  asleep  when  I  bring 
it,  I  do  not  wake  him,  but  put  it  on  the  table  by  his  bedside,  and, 
very  frequently,  if  it  is  cold  when  he  wakes,  he  leaves  it  un- 
tasted." 

"  Umph !  but  at  all  events,  there  is  the  other  accident.  That 
can  be  made  to  take  effect  at  mid-night  to-morrow — eh !  what 
say  you,  Le  Genre  ?" 

"  Without  fail !     It  is  sworn  !" 

Their  plans  being  adjusted,  the  meeting  was  dissolved,  and  the 
parties  separately  dispersed,  each  to  make  his  way  back,  as  he 
best  might,  so  as  to  avoid  suspicion  or  detection,  to  Fort  Caroline. 
They  had  scarcely  disappeared  when  Alphonse  D'Erlaeh  emerged 
from  the  hollow  of  a  cypress  which  stood  upon  the  edge  of  the 
knoll  where  their  conference  had  taken  place. 


CHAPTER     III. 

ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH  was  one  of  those  remarkable  persons 
who  seem,  in  periods  of  great  excitement,  to  be  entirely  superior 
to  its  influence.  He  appeared  to  be  entirely  without  emotions. 
Though  a  mere  youth,  not  yet  firm  hi  physical  manhood,  he  was, 
in  morals,  endowed  with  a  strength,  a  hardihood  and  maturity, 
which  do  not  often  fall  to  the  lot  of  middle  age.  In  times  of 
difficulty,  he  possessed  a  coolness  which  enabled  him  to  contem- 
plate deliberately  the  approach  of  danger,  and  he  was  utterly  be- 


THE   CONSPIRACY   OP   LE   GENR&.  147 

yond  surprises.  His  .  conference  with  old  Bon  Pre,  when  they 
met  again  that  night  was  remarkably  illustrative  of  these  char- 
acteristics. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?"  demanded  the  old  man. 

"  Your  part  is  easily  done,"  was  the  reply — "  you  are  simply 
to  do  nothing — to  forbear  doing.  I  understand  your  purpose  in 
volunteering  to  do  the  poisoning.  I  will  see  Laudonniere  in  an 
hour.  You  will  prepare  the  coffee — nay,  let  Fourneaux,  or  that 
fool  of  a  magician  himself,  introduce  the  poison.  Laudonniere 
will  sleep,  you  understand." 

"  But,  Le  Genre — the  gunpowder !" 

"I  will  see  to  that." 

"  What  will  you  do  ?" 

"  Nay,  time  must  find  the  answer.  I  am  not  resolved ;  but,  at 
all  events,  for  the  present,  Laudonniere  must  know  nothing.  He 
must  remain  in  ignorance." 

"  Why  ?" 

"  For  the  best  reason  in  the  world.  Did  he  guess  what  we 
know,  he  would  be  for  arming  himself  and  all  around  him — creat- 
ing a  confusion  under  the  name  of  law — attempting  arrests,  and 
so  proceeding  as  to  give  opportunities  to  the  conspirators  to  do 
that  boldly,  which  they  are  now  content  to  do  basely.  I  think  we 
shall  thwart  them  with  their  own  weapons.  Let  us  separate  now. 
I  will  see  Laudonniere  but  a  few  moments  before  I  sleep." 

"  Can  you  sleep  to-night  ?  I  cannot !  I  shall  hardly  be  able 
to  sleep  till  the  affair  is  over.  I  do  not  think,  honestly  speaking, 
that  I  have  slept  a  good  hour  for  the  last  week.  I  am  certainly 
not  conscious  of  having  done  so." 

"  Nature  provides  for  all  such  cases.  For  my  part  I  never 
want  sleep — I  always  have  it.  I  can  sleep  in  a  storm  and  enjoy 


148  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

it  just  as  well.  The  uproar  of  winds  and  seas  never  troubles  me. 
If  it  does,  it  is  only  to  lull  me  into  sleep  again.  I  am  a  philoso- 
pher without  knowing  it,  and  by  accident.  But  come — we  must 
part." 

The  chamber  of  D'Erlach  was  in  the  same  building  with  that 
of  Laudonniere.  They  slept  in  adjoining  apartments.  D'Erlach 
purposely  made  some  noise  in  approaching  his,  and  Laudonniere 
cried  out, 

"  Who  is  there  ? — Alphonse  ?" 

"  The  same,  sir." 

"  Come  in — where  have  you  been  at  this  hour  ;  is  it  not  very 
late  ?" 

"  Almost  time  for  waking — an  hour  probably  from  dawn,  though 
I  know  not  exactly.  But,  suffer  me  to  extinguish  this  light.  We 
can  talk  as  well  in  the  dark." 

"  What  have  you  to  say  ?"  demanded  Laudonniere,  half  rising 
at  this  preliminary. 

"  I  have  been  getting  some  new  lessons  in  chess  from  old  Mar- 
chand." 

"  Ah  !  what  new  lesson  ?"  asked  Laudonniere,  whose  passion 
for  the  game  had  prompted  D'Erlach  with  the  suggestion  he  made 
use  of. 

"  Marchand,  sir,  is  a  most  wonderful  player.  I  have  seen  a 
great  many  persons  skilled  at  the  game,  not  to  speak  of  yourself, 
and  I  am  sure  there  is  no  one  who  can  stand  him.  He  absolutely 
laughs  at  my  opposition.  I  wish  you  could  play  with  him,  sir." 

"  I  should  like  it,  Alphonse,"  replied  the  other,  "  but  you 
know  my  position.  This  man,  Marchand,  is  a  turbulent  person  ; 
scarcely  respectful  to  me,  and,  if  there  be,  as  you  think,  a  conspi* 
racy  on  foot  against  me,  he  is  at  the  head  of  it,  be  sure." 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENR£.  149 

"  Not  so ;"  said  the  other,  quietly,  but  decisively ;  "  not  so. 
His  bluntness  is  that  of  an  honest  man.  His  turbulence  is  that 
of  self-esteem.  He  is  above  a  base  action,  and,  secure  in  his  own 
character,  he  defies  the  scrutiny  of  superiority.  I  think  you  mis- 
take him  ;  at  all  events  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  know  him 
in  chess.  I  am  anxious  to  see  you  and  him  in  conflict ;  and,  if 
you  will  permit  me,  he  shall  bring  his  own  men — for  he  will  play 
with  no  other — he  has  his  notions  on  the  point — here,  to-morrow 
night,  when  you  will  discover  that  he  is  not  only  a  great  player 
but  a  good  fellow." 

"  You  are  a  singular  person,  Alphonse  ;"  said  Laudonniere, 
smiling.  "  What  should  put  chess  into  your  head  at  such  a  time, 
particularly  when  you  say  there  is  such  danger  ?" 

"  The  man  who  can  play  chess  when  danger  threatens  is  the 
very  man  to  discover  it ;  and  the  conspirator  is  never  more  likely 
to  become  resolved  in  his  purpose  than  when  he  finds  his  destined 
victim  in  a  state  of  anxiety.  I  should  rather  my  enemy  see  me 
at  chess — provided  I  can  see  him — than  that  he  should  find  me 
putting  my  arms  in  readiness.  They  may  be  conveniently  under 
the  table,  while  the  chess-board  is  upon  it ;  and  while  I  am  moving 
my  pawn  with  one  hand,  I  can  prepare  my  pistol  with  the  other. 
But,  sir,  with  your  further  permission,  I  will  bring  Challus  and 
Le  Moyne  to  see  the  match.  They  are  both  passionately  fond  of 
the  game,  and  Le  Moyne  plays  well,  though  nothing  to  compare 
either  with  yourself  or  Marchand." 

"  By  the  way,  Alphonse,  how  is  Le  Moyne  getting  on  with  his 
pictures  ?  It  certainly  was  a  strange  idea  of  the  Admiral,  that  of 
sending  out,  with  such  an  expedition,  painters  of  pictures  and  such 
persons.  I  can  see  the  use  of  a  mineralogist  and  botanist,  but — 
these  painters  !> 


150  THE  LILT   AND   THE  TOTEM. 

"  Le  Moyne  has  made  some  very  lovely  pictnres  of  the  country. 
His  landscapes  are  to  the  life,  and  he  has  that  rare  knowledge  of 
the  painter,  which  enables  him  to  choose  his  point  of  view  happily, 
and  tells  him  how  much  to  take  in,  and  how  much  to  leave  out. 
The  Admiral  will  be  able  to  form  a  better  idea  of  the  country  from 
the  pictures  of  Le  Moyne,  than  he  will  from  the  pebbles  of  Delille 
or  the  dried  flowers  and  leaves  of  Serrier.  Le  Moyne  shows  him 
the  rivers  and  the  trees,  the  valleys  and  the  hills  ;  and,  if  his  pic- 
tures get  safely  to  France,  the  people  there  will  envy  us  the  para- 
dise here  which  we  are  so  little  able  to  enjoy." 

Laudonniere  heard  the  youth  with  half-shut  eyes,  and  the  dia- 
logue languished  on  the  part  of  the  former  ;  but  D'Erlach  seemed 
resolute  to  keep  him  wakeful,  and  suggested  continually  new  pro- 
vocatives to  conversation,  until  his  superior,  absolutely  worn  out 
with  exhaustion,  bade  him  go  to  sleep  himself  or  suffer  him  to  do 
so.  Alphonse  smiled,  and  left  the  room  perfectly  satisfied,  as  h« 
beheld  the  faint  streakings  of  daylight  gliding  through  the  inter* 
stices  between  the  logs  of  which  the  building  was  composed.  In 
less  than  an  hour,  hearing  a  sound  as  of  one  entering,  he  hastily 
went  out  of  his  chamber,  for  he  had  neither  undressed  himself  nor 
slept,  and  met  Bon  Pre,  with  the  salver  of  coffee,  about  to  go  into 
the  chamber  of  Laudonniere. 

"  Well,  is  it  spiced  ?     Has  La  Roquette  furnished  the  drug  ?" 

"  His  own  hands  put  it  in." 

"  Very  well ;  let  us  in  together.  Laudonniere  is  not  likely  to 
awaken  soon,  and  I  will  remain  with  him  Hill  he  does.  If  the 
coffee  cools,  and  he  offers  not  to  drink,  well.  I  will  say  nothing. 
It  is  best  that  he  should  know  nothing  'till  alPs  over. 

"  But  the  rest !"  said  Bon  Pre,  in  a  whisper. 

"  We  must  manage  that,  also,  quite  as  well  as  this." 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF   LE  GENR&.  151 

"  If  you  should  want  help  ?" 

"  We  must  find  it.  But  the  thing  must  go  forward  to  the  end. 
Remember  that!  This  scoundrel  must  be  suffered  to  burn  his 
fingers." 

"  Can  you  contrive  it — you,  alone  ?" 

"  I  think  so  ;  but,  Bon  Pre,  you  are  here,  and  Challus,  and 
Le  Moyne,  and  Beauvais  and  Marchand,  and,  perhaps,  one  or  two 
more — true  men  upon  whom  we  can  rely — and  these,  mark  me, 
must  be  in  readiness.  Of  this  you  shall  learn  hereafter." 

They  entered  the  chamber  of  Laudonniere.  He  still  slept. 
Bon  Pre  placed  the  vessel  of  coffee  beside  him  and  disappeared. 
D'Erlach  seated  himself  at  a  little  distance  from  the  couch. 
When  Laudonniere  wakened  the  liquor  was  cold.  He  laid  it  down 
again. 

"  What !  you  here,  Alphonse  ;  but  you  have  been  to  bed  ?" 

"  I  do  not  sleep  as  soundly  as  you.  I  left  my  chamber  as  old 
Bon  Pre  brought  your  coffee,  and  entered  with  him.  You  do  not 
drink  ?" 

"  The  coffee  is  cold." 

"  It  spoils  your  breakfast,  too,  I  imagine.  You  do  not  eat 
heartily  at  breakfast." 

"  No ;  dinner  is  my  meal.  But,  Alphonse — did  I  dream,  or 
did  we  not  have  some  conversation  about  Marchand  and  chess- 
playing  last  night  ?" 

"  We  did !  This  morning  rather." 

"  Is  he  the  great  player  you  describe  him  ?" 

"  He  is.     I  can  think  of  none  better." 

"  Well — saucy  as  he  is,  I  must  meet  him." 

"  You  permitted  me  to  arrange  for  it,  to-night.  I  had  your  con- 
sent to  bring  some  amateurs." 


152  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

"  Yes,  I  do  recollect  something  of  it — Le  Moyne  and — " 

"  Challus." 

"  Very  well — let  them  come  ;  but  they  must  be  patient.  If 
Marchand  is  such  a  player,  I  must  be  cool  and  cautious.  I  must 
beat  him." 

"You  will,  but  you  will  work  for  it.  Marchand  will  keep  you 
busy.  And  now,  sir,  there  is  another  matter  which  I  beg  leave  to 
bring  to  your  remembrance.  You  remember  the  cypress  canoe 
that  lies  upon  the  river  banks,  three  miles  or  more  above.  It  was 
claimed  by  the  old  chief  Satouriova.  We  shall  want  it  here  for  va- 
rious, and,  perhaps,  important  uses,  when  the  ship  sails.  She  will 
take  most  of  your  boats  with  her.  Let  me  recommend  that  you 
send  a  detachment  for  this  boat  to-day.  It  should  be  an  armed 
detachment,  for  the  old  chief  is  most  certainly  our  enemy,  and  may 
be  in  the  neighborhood.  I  would  send  Lieutenant  Le  Genre,  as 
he  lacks  employment.  I  would  give  him  his  choice  of  six  or  eight 
companions,  as,  if  he  does  not  choose  his  own  men,  he  might  be 
apt  to  tyrannize  over  those  who  are  friendly  to  you.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better  to  give  your  orders  early,  that  he  should  start  at 
noon,  as,  at  mid-day,  the  tide  will  serve  for  bringing  the  boat  up 
without  toil." 

"  Why,  Alphonse,  you  are  very  nice  in  your  details.  But,  you 
are  right,  and  the  arrangement  is  a  good  one." 

"  The  sooner  Le  Genre  receives  his  orders  the  more  time  for 
preparations  ;"  said  the  youth  indifferently. 

"  He  shall  have  them  as  soon  as  I  go  below." 

By  this  time  Laudonniere  was  dressed  and  they  descended  the 
court  together. 

"  Has  he  drunk,"  asked  Le  Genre  anxiously,  with  Forneaux  and 
La  Roquette  on  each  side,  as  they  beheld  Bon  Pre  descending 


THE   CONSPIRACY   OP   LE    GENftfe.  153 

from  the  chamber  of  Laudonniere  with  the  vessel  in  his  hand. 
The  old  man  raised  the  silver  lid  of  the  coffee-pot,  and  showed  the 
contents. 

"  Diablo !"  was  the  half-suppressed  exclamation  of  La  Ro- 
quette. 

"  Enough,  comrade !"  said  Le  Genre,  in  a  whisper—"  it  re- 
mains for  me." 

They  separated,  and  entered,  from  different  points,  the  area 
where  Laudonniere  stood. 

"  Lieutenant ;"  said  the  latter,  as  Le  Genre  appeared  in  sight— 
"  Take  six  men  at  noon  and  go  up  to  the  bluff  of  the  old  chief 
Satouriova  and  bring  away  the  cypress  canoe  of  which  we  took  pos- 
session some  time  since.  Launch  her  and  bring  her  up.  The  tide 
will  serve  at  that  hour.  Let  your  men  be  armed  to  the  teeth,  and 
keep  on  your  guard,  for  you  may  meet  the  old  savage  on  your 
way. 

Le  Genre  touched  his  hat  and  retired. 

"  It  is  well,  said  he  to  Fourneaux,  whom  he  had  chosen  as  one 
of  his  companions,  "  that  the  commission  did  not  send  me  off  at 
once.  I  must  make  my  preparation  quickly  and  before  I  go." 

Unseen  and  unsuspected,  Alphonse  D'Erlach  was  conscious  all 
the  while  that  the  enemy  was  busy.  But  Laudonniere  saw  nothing 
to  suspect,  either  in  his  countenance,  or  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
conspirator.  At  noon,  Le  Genre  commenced  his  march,  the  only 
toils  of  which  were  over,  when  once  the  canoe  was  in  their  posses- 
sion. The  vessel  was  amply  large  to  carry  twenty  soldiers  as  well 
as  six,  and  the  tide  alone  would  bring  them  to  the  fortress  in  an 
hour  or  two. 

The  labors  of  Alphonse  began  as  soon  as  Le  Genre  had  disap- 
peared with  his  party.  The  six  men  whom  he  had  taken  with 
7* 


154  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

him,  were  his  confederates.  The  object  of  the  youth  was  to  oper- 
ate in  security,  free  from  their  surveillance.  Still,  his  proceed- 
ings were  conducted  with  great  caution.  Laudonniere  neither 
suspected  his  industry  nor  its  object.  Arms  and  ammunition 
were  accumulated  in  his  chamber.  Beauvais,  and  one  or  two 
brave  and  trusty  friends,  were  placed  there  without  the  privity  of 
any  one,  and  the  chess-party,  including  Marchand,  Le  Moyne  and 
Challus,  were  properly  apprized  of  the  arrangements  for  the  game 
between  the  former  and  Laudonniere.  They  were  all  amateurs, 
and  there  was  good  wine  to  be  had  on  such  occasions.  They  did 
not  refuse.  Alphonse  took  pains  to  noise  about  the  expected 
meeting,  and  its  object,  and  showed  his  own  interest  by  betting 
freely  upon  his  captain.  He  soon  found  those  who  were  willing 
to  risk  their  gold  upon  Marchand ;  and  the  lively  Frenchmen  of 
La  Caroline,  were  very  soon  all  agog  for  the  approaching  contest. 
But  the  labors  of  the  youth  did  not  cease  here.  He  explored  the 
cellar  of  the  building  in  which  he  and  Laudonniere  slept,  and 
there,  as  he  expected,  the  arrangements  had  been  already  made 
for  sending  the  Chief  and  himself  by  the  shortest  possible  road 
to  heaven.  A  keg  of  powder  had  been  wedged  in  beneath  the 
beams,  with  a  train,  following  which,  on  hands  and  knees,  Al- 
phonse was  conducted  under  the  old  bath-house,  till  he  found 
himself  beneath  that  ©f  Le  Genre.  He  did  not  disturb  the  train. 
He  simply  withdrew  the  keg  of  powder,  carefully  putting  back,  in 
the  manner  he  found  them,  the  old  boxes  and  piles  of  wood,  with 
which  the  incendiary  had  wedged  it  between  the  beams.  This 
done,  he  rolled  the  keg  before  him  over  the  path,  by  which  it  had 
evidently  come,  beneath  the  bath-house,  and  tc  that  of  Le  Genre. 
Here  he  left  it,  still  connected  with  the  train  of  powder,  but 
rather  less  distant  from  the  match  than  Le  Genre  had  ever  con- 


THE   CONSPIRACY   Of   LE   GENRfc.  155 

templated.  Perhaps,  lie  sprinkled  the  train  anew  with  fresh 
powder — it  is  certain  that  he  went  away  secure  and  satisfied,  long 
before  Le  Grenre  returned  from  his  expedition,  with  the  canoe  of 
Satouriova. 


CHAPTER     IV. 

AT  the  hour  appointed  that  night,  for  the  contest  between  tho 
chess  players,  Marchand,  accompanied  by  Le  Moyne  and  Challus, 
made  his  appearance  in  the  apartments  of  Rene  Laudonniere. 
Those  of  Alplionse  B*Erlach  were  already  occupied  by  four  or 
five  trusty  fellows  ;  asad  the  arms  which  filled  the  apartment  were 
ample  for  the  defence  of  the  party,  while  in  the  building,  against 
any  number  assailing  from  without.  The  foresight  of  Alphonse 
had  made  all  the  necessary  preparations,  to  encounter  any  foe, 
who  might,  after  the  explosion,  attempt  to  carry  their  object  in  a 
bold  way.  He  had  no  fear  of  this,  but  his  habitual  forethought 
led  to  the  precautions.  Meanwhile,  of  the  designs  against  him 
and  of  the  means  taken  for  his  safety,  Laudonniere  had  not  the 
slightest  suspicion.  His  thoughts  were  occupied  with  one  danger 
only — that  of  being  beaten  by  Marchand.  He  valued  himself 
upon  his  play — was  one  of  those  persons  who  never  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  beaten  when  they  can  possibly  help  it — even  by  a 
lady.  If  our  captain  made  any  preparations,  that  day,  it  was  for 
the  supper  that  night,  and  the  contest  which  was  to  follow  it. 
His  instruction,  on  the  first  matter,  given  to  his  cook,  he  retired 
to  his  chamber  and  exercised  himself  throughout  the  day  in  a 
series  of  studies  in  the  game — planning  new  combinations  to  be 


156  »  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

brought  into  play,  if  possible,  in  the  contest  which  was  to  follow* 
His  welcome  to  Marchand  declared  the  opinion  which  he  himself 
entertained  of  his  studies. 

"  I  shall  beat  you,  Marchand." 

"You  can't — you  shan't,"  was  the  ready  answer;  "you're 
not  my  match,  captain." 

This  answer  piqued  Laudonniere. 

"  We  shall  see — we  shall  see ;  not  your  match  !  "Well  !  we 
ghall  see." 

We  need  not  waste  time  upon  the  preliminaries  of  the  contest. 
Enough  that,  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  we  find  the  rival  players 
placed  at  the  table ;  the  opposing  pieces  arrayed  in  proper  order 
of  battle,  with  Le  Moyne  and  Challus,  looking  on  with  faces  filled 
with  expectation  and  curiosity.  The  face  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach 
might  also  be  perceptible,  in  a  momentary  glance  over  the 
shoulders  of  one  or  other  of  the  parties ;  but  his  movements  were 
capricious,  and,  passing  frequently  between  his  own  and  the  cham- 
ber of  Laudonniere,  he  only  looked  at  intervals  upon  the  progress 
of  the  game.  Unhappily,  the  details  of  this  great  match,  the 
several  moves,  and  the  final  position  of  the  remaining  pieces,  at 
the  end  of  the  contest,  have  not  been  preserved  to  us,  though  it  is 
not  improbable  that  the  painter  Le  Moyne,  as  well  as  Challus, 
took  notes  of  it.  Enough,  that  Laudonniere  put  forth  all  his  skilI7 
exercised  all  his  caution,  played  as  slowly  and  needfully  as  possi- 
ble, and  was but  we  anticipate.  Marchand,  on  the  contrary, 

seemed  never  more  indifferent.  He  scarcely  seemed  to  look  at 
the  board — played  promptly,  even  rapidly,  and  wore  one  of  those 
cool,  almost  contemptuous,  countenances  which  seemed  to  say, 
"  I  know  myself  and  my  enemy,  and  feel  sure  that  I  have  no 
cause  of  fear."  That  his  opinions  were  of  this  character  is  be* 


THE  CONSPIRACY  (XP  LE  GENR&.  157 

yond  all  question;  but,  though  his  countenance  expressed  as 
much,  Laudonniere  reassured  himself  with  the  reflection  that  Mar- 
chand  was  well  understood  to  be  one  of  those  fortunate  persons 
who  know  admirably  how  to  disguise  their  real  emotions,  however 
deeply  they  may  be  excited  or  anxious.  Laudonniere 's  self-es- 
teem was  not  deficient,  in  the  absence  of  better  virtues.  He  had 
his  vanity  at  chess,  and  the  game  was  so  played,  that  the  issue 
continued  doubtful,  except  possibly  to  one  of  the  spectators, 
almost  to  the  last  moment.  Leaving  the  parties  at  the"  board, 
silent  and  studious,  let  us  turn  to  the  counsels  of  the  conspirators, 
whom  we  must  not  suppose  to  be  idle  all  this  time, 

They  had  assembled — half  a  dozen  of  them  at  least — and  were 
in  close  conference  at  the  quarters  of  La  Roquette,  at  the  oppo- 
site extremity  of  the  fortress.  They  were  all  excited  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  expectation.  The  hour  was  drawing  nigh  for  the  attempt, 
and  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  Le  Grenre. 

"  It  is  half  past  eleven,"  he  exclaimed,  "  and  the  thing  is  to  be 
done.  But  what  is  to  be  done,  if  those  men  whom  we  hold  doubt- 
ful should  take  courage,  and,  in  the  moment  of  uproar  take  arms 
against  us  ?  "We  have  made  no  preparations  for  this  event. 
Now,  this  firing  the  train  from  my  lodgings  is  but  the  work  of  a 
boy.  It  may  be  done  by  any  body.  It  is  more  fitting  that,  with 
six  or  eight  select  men,  well  armed,  I  should  be  in  reserve,  ready 
to  encounter  resistance  should  there  be  any  after  the  explosion. " 

Villemain,  a  youth  of  twenty-two,  a  dark,  sinister-looking  person, 
elight  and  short,  promptly  volunteered  to  fire  the  train.  His  offer 
was  at  once  accepted. 

"  It  is  half-past  eleven,  you  say  ?  I  will  go  at  once,"  said  Ville- 
main. 


158  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM, 

"  We  will  go  with  you,"  cried  La  Roquette  and  Stephen  Le 
Genevois  in  the  same  breath. 

"  No !  no !  not  so !"  said  Le  Genre.  "  You  have  each  duties  to 
perform.  You  must  scatter  yourselves  as  much  as  possible,  so  as  to 
increase  the  alarm  at  the  proper  moment.  There  will  be  little 
danger,  I  grant  you,  with  Laudonniere,  and  that  imp  of  the  devil, 
D'Erlach,  out  of  the  way ;  but  it  must  be  prepared  for.  Once 
show  the  rest  that  these  are  done  for,  and  we  shall  do  as  we  think 
proper." 

"  What  a  fortunate  thing  for  us  is  this  game  of  chess.  It  dis- 
poses of  the  only  persons  we  could  not  so  easily  have  managed ;" 
said  Fourneaux.  "  Boxes  them  up,  as  one  may  say,  so  that  they 
only  need  a  mark  upon  them  to  be  ready  for  shipment." 

"  And  yet,  somehow,  I  could  wish,"  said  Le  Genevois,  "  that 
Marchand  were  not  among  them.  I  like  that  fellow.  He  is  so 
bold,  so  blunt,  and  plays  his- game  just  as  if  it  were  his  religion." 

"  I  could  wish  to-  save  the  painter,  if  any,"  remarked  La  Ro- 
quette ;  "  but  at  all  events,  we  shall  inherit  his  pictures." 

"  Bah  !  let  the  devil  take  him  and  them  together  !  Why  bother 
about  such  stuff;  what's  his  pictures  of  the  country  to  us, 
when  the  country  itself  is  our  own,  to  keep  or  to  quit  just  as  it 
pleases  us  ?  We  are  wasting  time.  Where's  Villemain  ?" 

"Here— ready!" 

"  Depart,  then,"  said  Le  Genre  ;  "  the  sooner  you  light  the 
match  after  you  reach  my  quarters,  the  better.  We  shall  be  ready 
for  the  blast." 

"  He  is  gone !"  said  Fourneaux. 

"  Let  us  follow,  and  each  to  his  task  ;"  cried  Le  Genre.  "  Each 
of  you  take  care  of  the  flying  timbers ;  find  you  covers  as  you 


THE   CONSPIRACY   OF  LE   GETTKfe.  159 


may.     My  men  are  mustered  behind  the  old  granary.     Adieu,  my 
friends,  —  the  time  has  come  !" 

With  these  words,  the  company  dispersed,  each  seeking  hifi 
several  position  and  duty.  Let  us  adjourn  our  progress  to  the  cham- 
ber of  Laudonniere,  where  that  meditative  gamester  still  sits  delibe- 
rate, with  knotted  brow,  watching  the  movements  of  Marchand. 


CHAPTER    v. 

THE  game  was  still  unfinished.  The  repeater  of  Alphonse 
D'Erlaeh  was  in  his  hand,  as  he  entered  from  his  own  chamber, 
and  threw  a  hasty  glance  across  the  chess-board.  There  Lau- 
donniere sate,  seeing  nothing  but  the  pieces  before  him.  He 
was  in  the  brownest  of  studies.  His  thoughts  were  wholly  with 
the  game,  which  had  the  power  of  contracting  his  forehead  with  a 
more  serious  anxiety  than  possibly  all  the  cares  of  his  colony  had 
done.  His  opponent  was  the  very  personification  of  well-satisfied 
indifference.  He  leaned  back  in  his  seat,  smiling  grimly,  and 
with  a  wink,  now  and  then,  to  those  who  watched  and  waited  upon 
the  movements  of  Laudonniere.  Alphonse  D'Erlach  smiled  also. 
The  slightest  shade  of  anxiety  might  be  observed  upon  his  brow, 
and  his  lips  were  more  rigidly  compressed  than  usual.  He 
leaned  quietly  towards  the  board,  and  remarked  indifferently — 

"  I  see  you  are  nearly  at  the  close  of  your  game." 

"  Indeed !"  said  Laudonniere,  with  some  sharpness  in  his  ac- 
cents,— "  and  pray  Monsieur  Alphonse,  how  do  you  see  that  ?" 

"  You  will  finish  by  twelve,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  see  that  it  now 
lacks  but  a  few  minutes  of  that  hour." 


160  THE   LILY   AND    THE    TOTt^k. 

"  Pshaw,  Monsieur  !"  exclaimed  Laudonniere — "  you  talk  illo- 
gically,  you  know  nothing  about  it.  Chess  is  one  of  those 
games " 

And  he  proceeded  to  expatiate  upon  the  latent  resources  of  the 
game,  and  how  a  good  player  might  retrieve  a  bad  situation  in 
the  last  perilous  extremity,  by  a  lucky  diversion. 

"  But  there  is  no  such  extremity  now,"  he  continued  to  say, 
"  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  we  shall  keep  up  the  struggle  till 
morning.  The  game  cannot  finish  under  an  hour,  let  him  do  his 
best,  even  if  he  conquers  in  the  end,  which  is  very  far  from  cer- 
tain, though  I  confess  he  has  some  advantages." 

"  We  shall  see,"  was  the  reply,  as  Alphonse  left  the  room,  and 
returned  in  a  few  moments  after.  It  was  not  observed  by  the 
parties,  so  intent  were  they  on  the  game,  that  he  now  made  his 
appearance  in  complete  armor,  nor  did  they  hear  the  bustle  in 
the  adjoining  apartment.  Alphonse  still  held  his  watch  in  his 
grasp. 

"  The  .game  is  nearly  finished.  According  to  my  notion,  you 
have  but  two  minutes  for  it." 

u  Two  !  how  !"  said  Laudonniere,  not  lifting  his  head. 

"But  one!" 

"  There !"  said  Laudonniere,  making  the  move  that  Marchand 
had  anticipated.  Marchand  bent  forward  with  extended  finger 
to  the  white  queen,  when  a  shade  of  uneasiness  might  be  traced 
by  a  nice  observer  in  the  countenance  of  D'Erlach.  His  lips 
were  suddenly  and  closely  compressed.  The  hand  of  the  time- 
piece was  upon  the  fatal  minute.  On  a  sudden,  a  hissing  sound 
was  heard,  and,  in  the  next  instant,  the  house  reeled  and  quivered 
as  if  torn  from  its  foundation.  A  deep  roar  followed,  as  if  the 


THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  LE  GENR&.  161 

thunderbolt  had  just  broke  at  their  feet,  and  the  whole  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  deafening  ringing  sound  in  all  their  ears. 

«  Jesus — mercy  !"  exclaimed  Laudonniere — "  The  magazine  !" 
"  Checkmate  !"  cried  Marchand,  as  he  set  down  the  white 
queen  in  the  final  position  which  secured  the  game. 

"  Ay  !  it  is  checkmate  to  more  games  than  one  !  Gentlemen, 
to  arms,  and  follow  me  !"  exclaimed  Alphonse.  "We  are  safe 
now!" 


CHAPTER     VI. 

THEY  rushed  out,  and  were  immediately  joined  by  the  select 
party  from  the  chamber  of  D'Erlach,  all  armed  to  the  teeth. 
Another  party,  under  Bon  Pre,  of  which  none  knew  but  the  same 
person,  encountered  them  when  they  emerged  into  the  Place 
D'Armes.  Alphonse  led  the  way  with  confidence,  and,  while  all 
was  uproar  and  confusion  below — while  men  were  seen  scattered 
throughout  the  area,  uncertain  where  to  turn,  the  sharp,  stern  voice 
of  command  was  heard  in  their  midst,  in  tones  that  forbade  the  idea 
of  surprise.  The  drums  rolled.  The  faithful  were  soon  brought 
together,  and  presented  such  an  orderly  and  strong  array,  that 
conspiracy  would  have  been  confounded  by  their  appearance,  even 
was  there  nothing  else  in  the  event  to  palsy  their  enterprise.  But 
their  engine  had  exploded  in  their  own  house.  The  dwelling  of 
Laudonniere  was  only  shaken  by  the  explosion.  It  was  that  of 
Le  Genre  which  was  overthrown,  and  was  now  in  flames.  Its 
blazing  timbers  were  soon  scattered,  and  the  flames  extinguished, 
when  the  body  of  the  conspirator  was  drawn  forth,  blackened  and 


162  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

mangled,  from  the  place  where  he  had  met  his  death  ;  still  grasp-, 
ing  between  his  fingers  the  fragment  of  match  with  which  he  had 
lighted  the  train  to  his  own  destruction.  The  conspirators,  in  an 
instant,  felt  all  their  feebleness.  Already  were  the  trusted  soldiers 
of  Laudonniere  approaching  them.  Baffled  in  the  scheme  from 
which  they  had  promised  themselves  so  much,  and  apprehending 
worse  dangers,  they  lost  all  confidence  in  themselves  and  one 
another;  and  Le  Genre,  apprehending  everything,  seizing. the 
moment  of  greatest  confusion,  leaped  the  walls  of  the  fortress,  and 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  the  woods.  The  other  leading  conspira- 
tors, Le  Genevois,  La  Fourneaux,  and  La  Roquette,  at  first 
determined  not  to  fly,  not  yet  dreaming  that  they  were  the  objects 
of  suspicion ;  but  when  they  beheld  Bon  Pre,  late  one  of  their 
associates,  marshalling  one  of  the  squads  of  Laudonniere,  they  at 
once  conjectured  the  mode  and  the  extent  of  the  discovery. 
They  saw  that  they  had  been  betrayed,  and  soon  followed  the 
example  of  Le  Genre.  In  regard  to  the  inferior  persons  con- 
cerned in  the  conspiracy,  D'Erlach  said  nothing  to  Laudonniere, 
and  counselled  Bon  Pre  to  silence  also.  He  was  better  pleased 
that  they  should  wholly  escape  than  that  the  colony  should  lose 
their  services,  and  easily  persuaded  himself  that  in  driving  Le 
Genre  and  his  three  associates  from  the  field,  he  had  effectually 
paralyzed  the  spirit  of  faction  within  the  fortress.  He  had  made 
one  mistake,  however,  but  for  which  he  might  not  have  been  so 
easily  content.  Not  anticipating  the  change  in  the  plan  of  the 
conspirators,  by  which  it  had  been  confided  to  Villemain  to  fire 
the  train  instead  of  Le  Genre,  he  had  naturally  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  only  victim  was  the  chief  conspirator.  He 
was  soon  undeceived,  and  his  chagrin  and  disappointment  were 
great  accordingly. 


THE   CONSPIRACY   OF   LE   GENR&. 

"  Whose  carcass  is  this  ?"  demanded  Laudonniere,  as  they 
threw  out  the  mangled  remains  of  the  incendiary  from  the  scene 
of  ruin. 

"  That  of  your  lieutenant,  Le  Genre,"  was  the  answer  of 
D'Erlach,  given  without  looking  at  the  object. 

"  Not  so !"  was  the  immediate  reply  of  more  than  one  of  the 
persons  present.  "  This  is  quite  too  slight  and  short  a  person 
for  Le  Genre." 

"  Who  can  it  be,  then  ?"  said  D'Erlach,  looking  closely  at  the 
body,  which  was  torn  and  blackened  almost  beyond  identification. 
The  face  of  the  corpse  was  washed,  and  with  some  difficulty  it  was 
recognized  as  that  of  Philip  Villemain,  a  thoughtless  youth,  whom 
levity  rather  than  evil  nature  had  thrown  into  the  meshes  of 
conspiracy. 

"  But  what  does  it  all  mean,  Alphonse  ?"  demanded  the  bewil- 
dered Laudonniere,  not  yet  recovered  from  his  astonishment  and 
alarm. 

'<  Treason !  as  I  told  you !"  was  the  reply.  "  There  lies  one 
of  the  traitors — the  poor  tool  of  a  cunning  which  escapes.  I  had 
looked  to  make  his  principal  perish  by  his  own  petard.  But  we 
must  look  to  this  hereafter.  We  must  stir  the  woods  to-morrow. 
They  will  shelter  the  arch  traitor  for  a  season  only.  Enough 
now,  captain,  that  we  are  safe.  Let  us  in  to  our  fish.  Those 
trout  were  of  the  finest,  and  I  somehow  have  a  monstrous  appetite 
for  supper." 


XIII. 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY. 

THE  policy  of  Laudonniere,  influenced  by  the  judgment  of 
Alphonse  D'Erlaeh  suffered  the  proceedings  of  the  conspiracy  to 
pass  without  farther  scrutiny.  His  chief  care  was  to  provide 
against  future  attempts  of  the  same  character.  He  had  been  for 
some  time  past  engaged,  among  other  labors,  in  putting  the 
fortress  in  the  best  possible  order,  and  he  now  strenuously  ad- 
dressed all  his  efforts  to  the  completion  of  this  work.  A  portion 
of  his  force  was  employed  in  sawing  plank,  and  getting  out  tim- 
ber ;  others  were  engaged  in  making  brick  for  buildings,  at  or  near 
an  Indian  village  called  Saravahi,  which  stood  about  a  league  and 
a  half  from  the  fort,  upon  an  arm  of  the  same  river  ;  others  were 
employed  in  gathering  food,  and  still  other  parties  in  exploring 
the  Indian  settlements  for  traffic.  Le  Genre,  meanwhile,  wrote 
to  Laudonniere,  in  repentant  language,  from  the  neighboring 
forests.  He  had  taken  shelter  among  the  red-men, — probably  of 
the  tribes  of  Satouriova,  at  present  the  enemy  of  the  Frenchmen. 
He  admitted  that  he  deserved  death,  but  declared  his  sorrow  for 
his  crime  and  entreated  mercy.  But  his  professions  did  not 
soothe  or  deceive  his  superior.  About  this  time,  a  vessel  with 
supplies  arrived  from  France  which  enabled  Laudonniere  to  send 


HISTORICAL   SUMMARY.  165 

despatches  home,  containing  a  full  narrative  of  the  events  which 
had  passed.  It  was  the  misfortune  of  the  garrison  to  have  re- 
ceived an  addition  by  the  arrival  of  this  vessel.  Six  or  seven  of 
the  most  refractory  of  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  were  put  on 
board  ship,  and  others  left  in  their  place  with  our  captain. 
These  proved  in  the  end,  quite  as  mischievous  as  those  which  he 
had  dismissed.  They  leagued  with  the  old  discontents  of  the 
colony.  They  stole  the  barks  and  boats  of  the  garrison,  ran 
away  to  sea,  and  became  picaroons,  seizing,  among  others,  upon 
a  Spanish  vessel  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  from  which  they  gathered 
a  quantity  of  gold  and  silver.  Laudonniere  proceeded  to  build 
other  boats  ;  which  were  seized  when  finished  by  the  leaders  of  a 
new  conspiracy,  among  whom  were  La  Fourneaux,  Stephen  le 
Genevois,  and  others  who  were  distinguished  in  this  manner  be- 
fore. They  finally  seized  Laudonniere  in  person,  and  extorted 
from  him  a  privateer's  commission.  Then,  compelling  him  to 
yield  up  artillery,  guns,  and  the  usual  munitions  of  war,  together 
with  Trenchant,  his  most  faithful  pilot,  they  hurried  away  to  sea 
under  the  command  of  one  of  his  sergeants,  Bertrand  Conferrant, 
while  La  Croix  became  their  ensign.  Thus  was  the  commandant 
of  La  Caroline  stripped  of  every  vessel  of  whatever  sort,  his  stores 
plundered,  and  his  garrison  greatly  lessened  by  desertions,  while 
select  detachments  of  his  men,  under  favorite  lieutenants,  were 
engaged  in  new  explorations  among  the  red-men  of  the  country. 
Our  detailed  narrative  of  these  proceedings  will  employ  the  fol- 
lowing chapters. 


XIV. 

THE  SEDITION  AT  LA  CAROLINE.— CHAP.  I. 

MOUVEMENT. 

. 

THERE  was  bustle  of  no  common  sort  in  the  fortress  of  La  Caro 
line.  The  breezes  of  September  had  purged  and  relieved  of  its 
evil  influences  the  stagnant  atmosphere  of  summer.  The  sick  of 
the  garrison  had  crawled  forth  beneath  the  pleasant  shadows  of 
the  palms,  that  grew  between  the  fortress  and  the  river  banks, 
and  there  were  signs  of  life  and  animation  in  the  scene  and  among 
its  occupants,  which  testified  to  the  favorable  change  which  heal- 
thier breezes  and  more  encouraging  moral  influences,  were  about 
to  produce  among  the  sluggish  inhabitants  of  our  little  colony. 
There  were  particular  occasions  for  movement  apart  from  the 
cheering  aspects  of  the  season.  Enterprise  was  afoot  with  all  its 
eagerness  and  hope.  Men  were  to  be  seen,  in  armor,  hurrying  to 
and  fro,  busy  in  the  work  of  preparation,  while  Monsieur  Laudon- 
niere  himself,  just  recovered  from  a  severe  illness,  conspicuous  in 
the  scene,  appeared  to  have  cast  aside  no  small  portion  of  his 
wonted  apathy  and  inactivity.  He  was  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his 
authority.  He  had  baffled  the  disease  which  preyed  upon  him,  and 
bad  defeated  the  conspiracy  by  which  his  life  and  power  had  been 


THE   SEDITION    AT   LA   CAROLINE.  167 

threatened.  He  was  now  disposed  to  think  lightly  of  the  dangers 
he  had  passed,  though  his  having  passed  them,  in  safety,  had 
tended  greatly  to  encourage  his  hope  and  to  stimulate  his  ad- 
venture. He  now  stood,  in  full  uniform,  at  the  great  gate  of  the 
fortress,  reading  at  intervals  from  a  paper  in  his  grasp,  while  ex- 
tending his  orders  to  his  lieutenants.  He  was  evidently  preparing 
to  make  considerable  use  of  his  authority.  It  is,  perhaps,  permit- 
ted to  a  Gascon  to  do  so,  at  all  seasons,  even  when  he  owes  his  se- 
curity to  better  wits  than  his  own,  and  has  achieved  his  successes 
in  his  own  despite.  Our  worthy  captain  of  the  Huguenot  gar- 
rison upon  the  river  of  May,  was  not  the  less  disposed  to  insist  upon 
his  authority,  because  it  had  been  saved  to  him  without  his  own 
participation.  It  might  have  been  difficult,  under  any  circum- 
stances, to  persuade  him  of  that,  and  certainly,  the  conviction, 
even  if  he  had  entertained  it,  would,  at  this  juncture,  have  done 
nothing  to  dissipate  or  lessen  the  confident  hope  which  prompted 
his  present  purposes.  The  present  was  no  ordinary  occasion.  It 
was  as  an  ally  of  sovereigns  that  Laudonniere  was  extending  his 
orders.  He  had,  already,  on  several  occasions,  permitted  his  lieu- 
tenants to  take  part  in  the  warfare  between  the  domestic  chieftains, 
and  he  was  now  preparing  to  engage  in  a  contest  which  threatened 
to  be  of  more  than  common  magnitude  and  duration.  A  warfare 
that  seldom  knew  remission  had  been  long  waged  between  the  rival 
warriors,  whose  several  dominions  embraced  the  western  line  of  tho 
gjreat  Apalachian  chain.  Already  had  the  Huguenots  fought  on 
the  side  of  the  great  potentate  Olata  Utina,  commonly  called 
Utina,  against  another  formidable  prince  called  Potanou.  He 
was  now  preparing  to  second  with  arms  the  ambition  of  Kings  Hos- 
taqua  and  Onathaqua,  who  were  preparing  for  the  utter  annihila- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  formidable  Potanou.  Of  the  two  former 


168  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

kings,  such  had  been  the  account  brought  to  Laudonniere,  that  he 
at  first  imagined  them  to  be  Spaniards.  They  were  described  as 
going  to  battle  in  complete  armor,  with  their  breasts,  arms  and 
thighs  covered  with  plates  of  gold,  and  with  a  helmet  or  head- 
piece of  the  same  metal.  Their  armor  defied  the  arrows  of  the 
savages,  and  proved  the  possession  of  a  degree  of  civilization 
very  far  superior  to  anything  in  the  experience  or  customs  of  the 
red-men.  Subsequently  it  was  ascertained  that  they  were  Indians 
like  the  rest,  differing  from  the  rest,  however,  in  this  other  remark- 
able trait,  that,  while  all  the  other  tribes  painted  their  faces  red, 
these  warriors  of  Hostaqua  and  Onathaqua  employed  black  only  to 
increase  the  formidable  appearance  which  they  made  in  battle. 
The  golden  armor  used  by  this  people,  and  the  excess  of  the 
precious  metals  which  this  habit  implied,  were  sufficient  induce- 
ments for  our  Huguenot  leader  to  attempt  his  present  enterprise. 
It  had  furnished  the  argument  of  the  conspirators  against  him, 
that  he  done  so  little  towards  the  discovery  of  the  precious  metals ; 
having  provoked  that  cupidity,  which  his  necessities  alone  com- 
pelled him  to  refuse  to  gratify.  His  error,  at  the  present  moment 
was,  in  employing  other  than  the  discontents  of  his  colony  in  mak- 
ing the  discovery.  But  of  this  hereafter. 

Laudonniere  had  not  been  wholly  neglectful,  even  while  he 
seemed  to  sleep  upon  his  arms,  of  the  reported  treasures  of  the 
country.  He  had  sent  two  of  his  men,  La  Roche  Ferriere  a 
clever  young  ensign,  and  another,  to  dwell  in  the  dominions  of 
King  Utina,  and  these  two  had  been  absent  all  the  summer,  en- 
gaged in  rambling  about  the  country.  Others,  as  we  have  seen, 
were  sent  in  other  directions.  Lieutenant  Achille  D'Erlach,  the 
brother  of  the  favorite  Alphonse,  had  been  absent  in  this  way, 
during  all  the  period  when  Laudonniere  was  threatened  by  con- 


THE    SEDITION    AT    LA    CAROLINE.  169 

spiracy ;  and  it  was  now  decreed  that,  even  while  his  brother 
continued  absent,  Alphonse  should  depart  also.  The  eagerness 
of  Laudonniere  would  admit  of  no  delay.  His  curiosity  had  just 
received  a  new  impulse  from  a  present  which  had  been  sent  him 
by  Hostaqua,  consisting  of  a  "  Luzerne's  skinne  full  of  arrows,  a 
couple  of  bowes,  foure  or  five  skinnes  painted  after  their  manner, 
and  a  chaine  of  silver  weighing  about  a  pounde  weight."  These 
came  with  overtures  of  friendship  and  alliance,  which  the  Hugue- 
not chief  did  not  deem  it  polite  to  disregard.  He  sent  to  the 
savage  king,  "  two  whole  sutes  of  apparell,  with  certain  cutting 
hookes  or  hatchets,"  and  prepared  to  follow  up  his  gifts,  by  send- 
ing a  small  detachment  of  picked  soldiers,  under  Alphonse  d'Er- 
lach,  still  more  thoroughly  to  fathom  the  secrets  of  the  country, 
but  ostensibly  to  unite  with  Hostaqua  and  his  ally  against  the 
potent  savage  Potanou,  who  was  described  as  a  man  of  boundless 
treasures,  also. 

The  bearer  of  these  presents  from  Hostaqua  was  an  inferior 
chieftain  named  Oolenoe.  This  cunning  savage,  of  whom  we 
shall  know  more  hereafter,  did  not  fail  to  perceive  that  the  ruling 
passion  of  our  Huguenots  was  gold.  It  was  only,  therefore,  to 
mumble  the  precious  word  in  imperfect  Gallic — to  extend  his 
hand  vaguely  in  the  direction  of  the  Apalachian  summits,  and 
cry  "  gold — gold !"  and  the  adroit  orator  of  the  Lower  Chero- 
kees,  on  behalf  of  his  tribe  or  nation,  readily  commanded  the 
attention  of  his  gluttonous  auditors.  His  auguments  and  en- 
treaties proved  irresistible,  and  the  present  earnestness  of  Lau- 
donniere, at  La  Caroline,  was  in  preparing  for  this  expedition. 
To  conquer  Potanou,  and  to  obtain  from  Hostaqua  the  clues  to 
the  precious  region  where  the  gold  was  reputed  to  grow,  with  al- 
most a  vegetable  nature,  was  the  motive  for  arming  his  Euro- 
8 


170  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

pean  warriors.  It  was  also  his  policy,  borrowed  from  that  of  the 
Spaniards,  to  set  the  native  tribes  upon  one  another  ; — a  fatal 
policy  in  the  end,  since  they  must  invariably,  having  first  destroy- 
ed the  inferior,  turn  upon  the  superior,  through  the  irresistible 
force  of  habit.  But,  even  with  the  former  object,  we  do  not  per- 
ceive that  there  was  any  necessity  to  take  any  undue  pains  in  its 
attainment.  Tribes  that  live  by  hunting  only,  must  unavoidably 
come  into  constant  collision.  No  doubt  the  natural  tendency  of 
the  savage  might  be  stimulated  and  made  more  inveterate  and 
active,  by  European  arts ;  and  Laudonniere,  however  Huguenot, 
was  too  little  the  Christian  to  forbear  them.  With  this  policy  he 
proposed  to  justify  himself  to  those  who  were  averse  to  the  pre- 
sent enterprise.  One  of  these  was  his  favorite,  Alphonse  D'Er- 
lach,  the  youth  to  whom  he  owed  his  life.  This  young  man,  on 
the  present  occasion,  approached  him  where  he  stood,  eager  and 
excited  with  the  business  of  draughting  the  proper  officers  and 
men  for  the  present  hopeful  expedition.  At  a  little  distance, 
stood  the  stern  old  savage,  Oolenoe,  grimly  looking  on  with  a  sat- 
isfaction at  his  heart,  which  was  not  suffered  to  appear  on  hia 
immovable  features.  The  artist  of  the  statuesque  might  have 
found  in  his  attitude  and  appearance,  an  admirable  model. 
While  his  eye  caught  and  noted  every  look  and  movement,  and 
his  ear  every  known  and  unknown  sound  and  accent,  the  calm 
unvarying  expression  of  his  glance  and  muscles  was  that  of  the 
most  perfect  and  cool  indifference.  They  only  did  not  sleep. 
He  leaned  against  a  sapling  that  stood  some  twenty  paces  removed 
from  the  entrance  of  the  fort,  a  loose  cotton  tunic  about  his  loins, 
and  his  bow  and  quiver  suspended  from  his  shoulders,  in  a  richly- 
stained  and  shell-woven  belt,  the  ground  work  of  which  was  cot- 
ton also.  A  knife,  the  gift  of  Laudonniere,  was  the  only  other 


THE   SEDITION    AT    LA    CAROLINE.  171 

weapon  which  he  bore  ;  but  this  was  one  of  those  very  precious 
acquisitions  which  the  Indian  had  already  purposed  to  bury  with 
him. 

As  Alphonse  D'Erlach  approached  his  commander,  a  close  ob- 
server might  have  seen  in  the  eyes  of  Oolenoe,  an  increased  bril 
liancy  of  expression.  The  sentiment  which  it  conveyed  was  not 
that  of  love.  It  is  with  quick,  intelligent  natures  to  comprehend, 
as  by  an  instinct  of  their  own,  in  what  quarter  to  find  sympathies, 
and  whence  their  antipathies  are  to  follow.  Oolenoe  had  soon 
discovered  that  D'Erlach  was  not  friendly  to  his  objects.  With 
this  conviction  there  arose  another  feeling,  that  of  contempt,  with 
which  the  extreme  youth,  and  general  effeminacy  of  the  young 
man's  appearance,  had  inspired  him.  He  did  not  seem  the  war- 
rior,— and  the  Indian  is  not  apt  to  esteem  the  person  of  whose 
conduct  in  battle  he  has  doubts.  Besides,  the  costume  of  D'Er- 
lach was  that  of  dandyism ;  and,  though  the  North  American 
savage  was  no  humble  proficient  in  the  arts  of  the  toilet,  yefc 
these  are  never  ventured  upon  until  the  reputation  of  the  hunter 
and  warrior  have  been  acquired.  Of  the  abilities  of  D'Erlach, 
in  these  respects,  Oolenoe  had  no  knowledge ;  and  his  doubts, 
therefore,  and  disrespects,  were  the  natural  result  of  his  convic- 
tion that  the  youth  was  suspicious  of,  and  hostile  to,  himself.  Of 
these  feelings,  D'Erlach  knew  nothing,  and  perhaps  cared  as  lit- 
tle. His  features,  as  he  drew  nigh  to  Laudonniere,  were  marked 
with  more  gravity  and  earnestness  than  they  usually  expressed ; 
and,  touching  the  wrist  of  his  commander,  as  lie  approached  him, 
he  beckoned  him  somewhat  farther  from  his  followers : 

"  It  is  not  too  late,"  said  he,  "  to  escape  this  arrangement." 
"  And  why  seek  to  escape  it,  Alphonse  ?"  replied  the  other, 
with  something  like  impatience  in  his  tones. 


172  THE    LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

"  For  the  best  of  reasons.  You  can  have  no  faith  in  this  sav- 
age. If  there  be  this  abundance  of  gold  in  the  country,  why 
brings  he  so  little.  Where  are  his  proofs  ?  But  this  is  not  all 
But  lately  our  enemy,  jealous  of  our  presence,  and  only  respect- 
ful because  of  his  fears,  we  can  have  no  confidence  in  him,  as  an 
ally.  He  will  lead  the  men  whom  you  give  him,  into  ambuscade 
— into  remote  lands,  where  provision  will  be  found  with  difficulty, 
— require  to  be  fought  for  at  every  step,  and  where  the  best  valor 
in  the  world,  and  the  best  conduct  will  be  unavailing  for  their  ex- 
trication." 

"  To  prevent  this  danger,  Alphonse,  you  shall  have  command 
of  the  detachment,"  said  Laudonniere,  with  a  dry  accent,  and  a 
satirical  glance  of  the  eye. 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,  for  this  proof  of  confidence,"  replied  the 
other,  no  ways  disquieted,  "  and  shall  do  my  best  to  avoid  or 
prevent  the  evils  that  I  apprehend  from  it ;  but " 

"  I  have  every  confidence  in  your  ability  to  do  so,  Alphonse,'' 
said  the  other,  interrupting  him  in  a  tone  which  still  betrayed  the 
annoyance  which  he  felt  from  the  expostulations  of  his  favorite. 
The  latter  proceeded,  after  a  slight  but  respectful  inclination  of 
the  head. 

"  But  there  is  another  consideration  of  still  greater  importance. 
Your  security  in  La  Caroline  is  still  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  You 
know  not  the  extent  of  the  late  conspiracy.  You  know  not  who 
are  sound,  and  who  doubtful,  among  your  men.  Le  Genre, 
Fourneaux,  Le  Genevois,  and  La  Roquette,  are  still  in  the  woods. 
You  are  weakening  yourself,  lessening  the  resources  of  the  for- 
tress, and  may,  at  any  moment " 

"  Pshaw  !"  exclaimed  Laudonniere,  with  renewed  impatience. 
"  You  are  only  too  suspicious,  Alphonse.  You  make  too  much 


THE    SEDITION    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  173 

of  this  conspiracy.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  it  was  ever  so 
dangerous.  At  all  events,  the  danger  is  over,  the  ringleaders 
banished  and  in  the  woods,  and  will  rot  there,  if  the  wolves  do 
not  devour  them.  They,  at  least,  shall  not  be  made  wolves  of 
for  me." 

D'Erlach  bowed  in  silence.  His  mouth  was  sealed  against  all 
further  expostulation.  He  saw  that  it  was  hopeless — that  his 
captain  had  got  a  fixed  idea,  and  men  of  few  ideas,  making  one 
of  them  a  favorite,  are  generally  as  immovable  as  death.  Besides, 
Alphonse  saw  that  the  obligations  which  he  had  so  lately  conferred 
upon  his  commander,  in  baffling  the  conspiracy  of  Le  Genre,  by 
his  vigilance,  had  somewhat  wounded  his  amour  propre.  It  is  a 
misfortune,  sometimes,  to  have  been  too  useful.  The  conscious- 
ness of  a  benefit  received,  is  apt  to  be  very  burdensome  to  the 
feeble  nature.  The  quick  instinct  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  readily 
perceived  the  condition  of  his  captain's  heart.  A  momentary 
pause  ensued.  Lifting  his  cap,  he  again  addressed  him,  but  with 
different  suggestions. 

"  Am  I  to  hope,  sir,  that  you  really  design  to  honor  me  with 
this  command  r" 

"  Certainly,  if  you  wish  it,  Alphonse." 

"  I  certainly  wish  it,  sir,  if  the  expedition  be  resolved  on." 

"  It  is  resolved  on,"  said  Laudonniere,  with  grave  emphasis. 

"  I  shall  then  feel  myself  honored  with  the  command." 

"  Be  it  yours,  lieutenant.  In  one  hour  be  ready  to  receive 
your  orders." 

u  One  minute,  sir,  will  suffice  for  all  personal  preparation  ;" 
and,  with  the  formal  customs  of  military  etiquette,  the  two  officers 
bowed,  as  the  younger  of  them  withdrew  to  his  quarters.  In  one 


374  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

hour,  he  was  on  the  march  with  twenty  men,  accompanied  by 
Oolenoe  and  his  dusky  warriors. 


CHAPTER      II. THE      OUTLAWS. 

THE  little  battalion  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  marched  along  the 
edge  of  a  wood  which  skirted  a  pleasantly  rising  ground — one  of 
those  gentle  undulations  which  serve  to  relieve  the  monotonous 
levels  of  the  lower  regions  of  Florida.  Deep  was  the  umbrage — 
dense  in  its  depth  of  green,  and  dark  in  its  voluminous  foliage, 
the  thicket  which  overlooked  their  march.  Their  eyes  might  not 
penetrate  the  enclosure,  from  which  eyes  of  hate  were  yet  look- 
ing forth  upon  them.  The  wood  concealed  the  outlaws  who  had 
lately  made  their  escape  from  La  Caroline,  after  the  exposure  of 
their  conspiracy.  They  had  not  ceased  to  be  conspirators.  Bold, 
bad  men — sleepless  discontents,  yearning  for  plunder  and  power 
— the  defeat  of  their  schemes,  and  the  necessity  of  their  sudden 
flight  from  the  scene  of  their  operations,  had  not  lessened  the 
bitterness  of  their  feelings,  nor  their  propensity  to  evil.  Fierce 
were  the  glances  which  they  shot  forth  upon  the  small  troop  which 
D'Erlach  conducted  before  their  eyes  on  his  purposes  of  doubtful 
policy.  Little  did  he  dream  what  eyes  were  looking  upon  him. 
Could  they  have  blasted  with  a  glance  or  curse,  he  had  been 
transformed  with  all  his  followers  where  he  passed.  But  the 
three  conspirators  had  no  power  for  more  than  curses.  These, 
though  "  not  loud,  were  deep."  With  clenched  fists  extended 
towards  him  on  his  progress,  they  devoted  him  to  the  wrath  of  a 
power  which  they  did  not  themselves  possess ;  and,  watching  his 


THE    SEDITION    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  175 

course  through  the  parted  foliage,  until  he  was  fairly  out  of  sight, 
they  delivered  themselves,  in  muttered  execrations,  of  the  hate 
with  which  his  very  sight  had  inspired  them.  Stephen  Le  Gene- 
vois  was  the  first  to  speak.  He  was  a  stalwart  savage,  of  broad 
chest,  black  beard,  and  most  dauntless  expression. 

"  Death  of  my  soul !"  was  his  exclamation ;  "  but  that  we 
have  lost  so  much  by  the  game,  it  were  almost  merry  to  laugh  at 
the  way  in  which  that  brat  of  a  boy  has  outwitted  us.  We  have 
been  children  in  his  hands." 

"  He  is  now  in  ours,"  said  La  Roquette,  gloomily. 

"  Aye,  if  the  Indian  keeps  his  faith,"  was  the  desponding 
comment  of  Fourneaux. 

"And  why  should  he  not  keep  faith,"  said  Le  Genevois.  "  He 
has  good  reason  for  it.  When  did  the  hope  of  plunder  fail  to 
secure  the  savage  ?" 

*  You  must  give  him  blood  with  it,"  responded  Fourneaux. 

"  Aye,  it  must  be  seasoned.  He  must  have  blood,"  echoed  La 
Roquette. 

"  Well,  and  why  not  ?  Do  we  not  give  him  blood  1  will  he 
not  have  this  imp  of  Satan  in  his  power  ?  may  he  not  feed  on  him 
if  he  will  ?  Aye,  and  upon  all  his  twenty  !"  exclaimed  Le  Gene- 
vois, fiercely. 

"  True— but " 

"  But,  but,  but — ever  with  your  buts  !  You  lack  confidence, 
courage,  heart,  Fourneaux — you  despair  too  easily !  I  wonder 
how  you  ever  became  a  conspirator !" 

"  I  sometimes  wonder  myself.  Ask  La  Roquette,  there.  He 
can  tell  you.  I  owe  it  all  to  his  magic." 

"  What  says  your  magic  now,  Roquette — have  you  any  signs 
for  us  ?" 


176  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Aye,  good  ones  !  We  shall  have  what  we  desire.  I  have 
seen — I  have  said !  Be  satisfied."  This  was  spoken  with  due 
solemnity  by  the  person  in  whom  the  credulity  of  his  companions 
Lad  found  sources  of  power  unknown  to  their  experience. 

"  But  why  not  show  us  what  you  have  seen  ?  Speak  plainly, 
man.  Out  with  it,  and  leave  that  mysterious  shaking  of  the  head, 
which  has  really  nothing  in  it." 

Such  was  the  language  of  the  more  manly  and  impetuous  Le 
Genevois.  It  provoked  only  a  fierce  glance  from  the  magician. 

"  All  in  good  time,"  said  the  latter.  "  Be  patient.  We  shall 
soon  hear  from  Oolenoe." 

"  Good !  and  you  have  seen  that  we  shall  be  successful  ?" 
demanded  Fourneaux. 

"  We  shall  be  successful." 

"  That  will  depend  upon  ourselves,  rather  than  upon  your 
visions,  I'm  thinking,"  said  Le  Genevois.  "We  must  have 
courage,  my  friends.  The  signs  are  not  good  when  we  call  for 
signs.  If  we  despond,  we  are  undone." 

"  Stay — hark !"  said  Fourneaux,  interrupting  him  eagerly. 
"  I  hear  sounds." 

"  The  wind  only." 

«  No  !— hist." 

They  bent  forward  in  the  attitude  of  listeners,  but  heard 
nothing.  They  had  begun  again  to  speak,  when  an  Indian,  cov- 
ered with  leaves  artfully  glued  upon  his  person,  stood  suddenly 
among  them.  They  started  to  their  feet  and  grasped  their 
weapons. 

"  Ami  /"  was  the  single  word  of  the  intruder,  at  he  stretched 
out  his  arms  in  signification  of  friendship. 


THE    SEDITION   OP   LA   CAROLINE.  177 

tt  Said  I  not  ?"  demanded  the  magician,  confidently.  "  This 
is  OUT  man." 

His  assurance  was  confirmed  by  the  savage,  who  spoke  the 
French  sufficiently  to  make  himself  understood.  He  came  from 
Oolenoe,  and  a  few  sentences  sufficed  to  place  both  parties  in 
possession  of  their  mutual  plans.  The  outlaws  were  not  without 
friends  in  La  Caroline.  They  were  to  find  their  way  once  more 
into  that  fortress.  They  had  no  fears  from  the  sagacity  of  Lau- 
donniere,  during  the  absence  of  the  youthful  but  vigilant  D'Erlach ; 
and,  for  the  latter,  he  was  to  be  disposed  of  by  Oolenoe.  And 
now  the  question  arose,  who  should  venture  to  "  bell  the  cat  ?" 
who  should  venture  himself  within  the  walls  of  La  Caroline  ? 

"  Ah  !"  said  one  of  the  conspirators,  "  if  we  could  only  bring 
Le  Genre  to  his  senses.  He  would  be  the  man." 

"  Speak  nothing  of  him,"  cried  Le  Genevois,  quickly ;  "  he 
is  no  longer  a  man.  He  is  a  priest.  That  defeat  has  killed  his 
courage.  He  repents,  and  is  constantly  writing  to  Laudonniere 
for  mercy  and  pity,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  He  must  not 
know  what  we  design." 

"  Who  has  seen  him  lately  ?" 

"  I  know  not.  He  was  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the  river 
by  Captain  Bourdet  in  his  boats.  He  crossed  to  seek  refuge  with 
the  people  of  Mollova." 

"  He  is  not  far,  be  sure.  He  will  linger  close  to  the  fort,  in 
the  hope  to  get  back  to  it,  and,  finally,  to  France.  He  is  not  to 
be  thought  of  in  this  expedition." 

"  Who  then  ?"  was  the  demand  of  Le  G-enevois.  "  Somebody 
must  muzzle  the  cannon.  Who  ?  Who  will  take  the  peril  and 
the  glory  of  the  enterprise,  and  in  the  character  of  an  Indian  will 

put  his  head  in  the  jaws  of  the  danger  ?" 
8* 


178  THE   LILT    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

The  question  remained  unanswered.  Fourneaux  excused  him- 
self on  a  variety  of  pleas,  not  one  of  which  would  be  satisfactory 
with  a  brave  man.  La  Roquette  declared  that  his  magical  powers 
were  always  valueless  when  any  restraint  was  set  upon  his  per- 
son ;  in  other  words,  he  could  better  perform  his  incantations 
when  the  danger  threatened  everybody  but  himself.  He  cer- 
tainly would  not  think  of  risking  them  within  La  Caroline,  while 
Laudonniere  was  in  power.  Besides  "  he  had  no  arts  of  imita- 
tion. He  had  no  abilities  as  an  actor."  Stephen  Le  G-enevois 
smiled  as  he  listened  to  their  pleas  and  excuses. 

"  My  friends  !"  he  exclaimed.  "  Did  you  think  that  I  would 
suffer  a  good  scheme  to  be  spoiled  by  such  as  you  ?  I  but  waited 
that  you  should  speak.  This  adventure  is  mine,  and  I  claim  it. 
I  will  return  to  La  Caroline.  I  will  play  the  spy,  and  take  the 
danger.  Mark  ye,  now,  comrade !" — addressing  the  Indian, — 
"  prepare  me  for  the  business.  Clothe  me  in  copper,  and  make 
me  what  you  please.  I  have  no  beauty  that  you  need  fear  to 
spoil." 

Thus  saying,  he  threw  off,  with  an  air  of  scornful  recklessness, 
the  costume  which  he  wore.  Wild  was  the  toilet,  and  wilder  still 
the  guise  of  our  buoyant  Frenchman.  In  an  open  space  within 
the  thicket,  beneath  a  great  moss-covered  oak,  which  wore  the 
beard  of  three  centuries  upon  his  breast,  the  chief  conspirator 
yielded  himself  to  the  hands  of  the  Indian.  A  keen  knife  shore 
from  his  head  the  thick  black  hair  with  which  it  was  covered.  A 
thin  ridge  alone  was  suffered  to  remain  upon  the  coronal  region,  sig- 
nificant of  the  war-lock  of  that  tribe  of  Apalachia,  to  which 
Oolenoe  belonged.  The  small  golden  droplets  which  hung  from 
the  Frenchman's  ears,  were  made  to  give  way  to  a  more  massive 
ornament  of  shells,  cunningly  strung  upon  a  hoop  of  copper  wire. 


THE    SEDITION    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  179 

His  body,  stripped  to  the  buff,  was  then  stained  with  the  brown 
juices  of  a  native  plant,  which,  with  other  dye-stuffs,  the  Indian 
produced  from  his  wallet.  His  brow  was  then  dyed  with  deeper 
hues  of  red — his  cheeks  tinged  with  spots  of  the  darkest  crimson, 
while  a  heavy  circlet  of  black,  about  his  eyes,  gave  to  his  counte- 
nance the  aspect  of  a  demon  rather  than  that  of  a  man.  This 
done,  the  savage  displayed  a  small  pocket  mirror  before  the  eyes 
of  the  metamorphosed  outlaw.  With  an  oath  of  no  measured 
emphasis,  the  Frenchman  bounded  to  his  feet,  his  eyes  flashing 
with  a  strange  delight. 

"  It  will  do  !"  he  shouted.  "  It  likes  me  well !  Were  I  now 
in  France,  there  would  be  no  wonder  beside  myself.  I  should 
stir  the  envy  of  the  men — I  should  win  the  hearts  of  the  women. 
I  should  be  the  loveliest  monster.  Ho !  Ho  !  Would  that  my 
voice  would  suit  my  visage  !" 

A  cotton  tunic  with  which  the  Indian  had  provided  himself, 
was  wrapped  round  the  loins  of  our  new-made  savage,  his  feet 
were  cased  with  moccasins,  and  his  legs  with  leggins  made  of 
deerskin — a  bow  and  quiver  at  his  shoulder — a  knife  in  his  girdle 
• — a  string  of  peag  or  shells  about  his  neck ; — and  his  toilet  was 
complete.  That  very  night,  accompanied  by  his  Indian  comrade, 
Stephen  Le  Genevois  entered  the  walls  of  La  Caroline,  bear- 
ing messages  from  Oolenoe  and  Alphonse  D'Erlach — the  latter 
of  which,  we  need  scarcely  say,  were  wholly  fraudulent.  The 
credulous  Laudonniere,  delighted  with  assurances  of  success  on 
the  part  of  his  lieutenant,  was  not  particularly  heedful  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  evidence  thus  afforded  him,  and  laid  his  head  on  an 
easy  pillow,  around  which  danger  hovered  in  almost  visible  forms, 
while  he,  unconsciously,  dreamed  only  of  golden  conquests,  and 
discoveries  which  were  equally  to  result  in  fame  and  fortune. 


180  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

His  guardian  angel  was  withdrawn.  His  mortified  vanity  had 
driven  from  his  side  the  only  person  whose  vigilance  might  have 
saved  him.  His  own  unregulated  will  had  yielded  him,  bound, 
hand  and  foot,  into  the  power  of  a  relentless  enemy. 


CHAPTER     III  . T  HE     MIDNIGHT     ARREST. 

SWEET  were  the  slumbers  of  Monsieur  Laudonniere,  command- 
ant of  the  fortress  of  La  Caroline.  Anxious  was  the  wakening  of 
Stephen  Le  Genevois,  the  conspirator,  who,  in  garbing  himself 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Indian,  had  not  succeeded  in  clothing  hig 
mind  in  the  stolid  and  stoic  nature  of  his  savage  companion.  The 
conspirators  watched  together  in  one  of  the  inner  chambers  of  the 
fortress.  They  had  not  restricted  themselves  to  watching  merely. 
Already  had  Le  G-enevois  made  his  purpose  known  to  one  of  his 
ancient  comrades.  The  name  of  this  person  was  La  Croix.  He 
was  one  of  the  trusted  followers  of  Laudonniere,  whose  superior 
cunning  alone  had  saved  him  from  suspicion,  even  that  of  DrEr- 
lach,  at  the  detection  of  the  former  conspiracy.  La  Croix,  in  the 
absence  of  the  latter,  was  prepared  for  more  decisive  measures 
He  was  one  of  those  whose  insane  craving  for  gold  had  surrendered 
him,  against  all  good  policy,  to  the  purposes  of  the  conspirators. 
He  was  now  in  charge  of  the  watch.  As  captain  of  the  night,  he 
led  the  way  to  the  gates,  which,  at  midnight,  he  cautiously  threw 
open  to  the  two  companions  of  Le  Genevois.  Fourneaux  and 
Koquette  had  been  waiting  for  this  moment.  They  were  admitted 
promptly  and  in  silence.  Darkness  was  around  them.  The 
fortress  slept, — none  more  soundly  than  its  commander.  I> 


THE   SEDITION   OP   LA   CAROLINE.  181 

silence  the  outlaws  led  by  La  Croix,  all  armed  to  the  teeth,  made 
their  way  to  his  chamber.  The  sentinel  who  watched  before  it, 
joined  himself  to  their  number.  They  entered  without  obstruc- 
tion and  without  noise ;  and,  ere  the  eyes  of  the  sleeper  could  un- 
close to  his  danger,  Or  his  lips  cry  aloud  for  succor,  his  voice  was 
stifled  in  his  throat  by  thick  bandagings  of  silk,  and  his  limbs 
fastened  with  cords  which,  at  every  movement  of  his  writhing 
frame,  cut  into  the.  springing  flesh.  He  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
very  fortress,  where,  but  that  day,  he  exulted  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  complete  command.  A  light,  held  above  his  eyes,  re- 
vealed to  him  the  persons  of  his  assailants  ; — the  supposed  Indians, 
in  the  outlaws  whom  he  had  banished,  and  others,  whom,  for  the 
first  time,  he  knew  as  enemies.  "When  his  eyes  were  suffered  to 
take  in  the  aspects  of  the  whole  group,  he  was  addressed,  in  his 
own  tongue,  by  the  leading  conspirator. 

"  Rene  Laudonniere,"  said  Stephen  Le  G-enevois,  in  his  bitter 
tones,  "  you  are  in  our  'power.  What  prevents  that  we  put  you 
to  death  as  you  merit,  and  thus  revenge  our  disgrace  and  banish- 
ment ?" 

The  wretched  man,  thus  addressed,  had  no  power  to  answer. 
The  big  tears  gathered  in  his  eyes  and  rolled  silently  down  his 
cheeks.  He  felt  the  pang  of  utter  feebleness  upon  him. 

"  We  will  take  the  gag  from  your  jaws,  if  you  promise  to  make 
no  outcry.  Nod  your  head  in  token  that  you  promise." 

The  prisoner  had  no  alternative  but  to  submit.  He  nodded, 
and  the  kerchief  was  taken  from  his  jaws. 

"  You  know  us,  Rene  Laudonniere  ?"  demanded  the  conspirator. 

"  Stephen  Le  G-enevois,  I  know  you !"  was  the  answer. 

"  'Tis  well !  You  see  to  what  you  have  reduced  me.  You 
have  held  a  trial  upon  me  in  my  absence.  You  have  sentenced 


182  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM, 

me  and  my  companions  to  banishment.  You  have  made  us  out- 
laws, and  we  are  here  !  You  see  around  you  none  but  those  on 
whom  you  have  exercised  your  tyranny.  What  hope  have  you 
at  their  hands  and  mine?  Savage  as  you  have  made  me  in 
aspect,  what  should  prevent  that  I  show  myself  equally  savage  in 
performance.  The  knife  is  at  your  throat,  and  there  is  not  one 
of  us  who  is  not  willing  to  execute  justice  upon  you.  Are  you 
prepared  to  do  what  we  demand  ?" 

"  What  is  it  ?" 

"  Read  this  paper." 

A  light  was  held  close  to  the  eyes  of  the  prisoner,  and  the  paper 
placed  near  enough  for  perusal.  The  instrument  was  a  commis- 
sion of  piracy — a  sort  of  half-legal  authority,  common  enough  in 
that  day,  to  the  marine  of  all  European  countries,  under  maxims 
of  morality  such  as  made  the  deeds  of  Drake,  and  Hawkins,  and 
other  British  admirals,  worthy  of  all  honor,  which,  in  our  less 
chivalric  era,  would  consign  them  very  generally  to  the  gallows. 

As  Laudonniere  perused  the  document,  he  strove  to  raise  him- 
self, as  with  a  strong  movement  of  aversion ; — but  the  prompt 
grasp  of  Genevois  fastened  him  down  to  the  pillow. 

"  No  movement ,  or  this !" — showing  the  dagger.  "  Have  you 
read  ?" 

" I  will  not  sign  that  paper!"  said  the  prisoner,  hoarsely. 

"Will  you  not?" 

"Never!" 

"  You  have  heard  the  alternative !"  -.4 

Laudonniere  was  silent. 

"  You  do  not  speak !  Beware,  Rene  Laudonniere.  We  have 
no  tender  mercies !  We  are  no  children  !  We  are  ready  for  any 
crime.  We  have  already  incurred  the  worst  penalties^  and  have 


THE    SEDITION    AT    LA    CAROLINE.  183 

nothing  to  fear.  But  you  can  serve  us,  living,  quite  as  effectually 
as  if  dead.  We  do  not  want  your  miserable  fortress.  We  are 
not  for  founding  colonies.  It  is  your  ships  that  we  will  take,  and 
your  commission.  We  will  spare  your  life  for  these.  Beware  ! 
Let  your  answer  square  with  your  necessities." 

"  Genevois  !"  said  the  prisoner,  "  even  this  shall  be  pardoned 
— you  shall  all  be  pardoned — if  you  will  forego  your  present 
purpose." 

"Pshaw!"  exclaimed  the  person  addressed.  "This  to  me! 
I  scorn  your  pardon  as  I  do  your  person  !  Speak  to  what  con- 
cerns you,  and  what  is  left  for  you  to  do.  Speak,  and  quickly, 
too,  for  the  dawn  must  not  find  us  here." 

"  I  will  not  sign  !"  said. the  prisoner,  doggedly. 

"  Then  you  die  !"  and  the  dagger  was  uplifted. 

"  Strike — why  do  you  stop  ?"  exclaimed  Fourneaux ;  "  we  can 
slay  him,  and  forge  the  paper." 

His  threatening  looks  and  attitude,  with  the  stern  air  which 
overspread  the  visage  of  Genevois,  and,  indeed,  of  all  around  him 
contributed  to  overcome  the  resolution  of  the  wretched  com- 
mander. Besides,  a  moment's  reflection  served  to  satisfy  him, 
that  the  conspirators,  having  gone  too  far  to  recede,  would  not 
scruple  at  the  further  crime  which  they  threatened. 

"  Will  my  life  be  spared  if  I  sign  ?  Have  I  your  oath, 
Stephen  Le  Genevois  ?  I  trust  none  other." 

"  By  G — d  and  the  Blessed  Saviour  !  as  I  hope  to  be  saved, 
Rene  Laudonniere,  you  shall  have  your  life  and  freedom  !" 

"  Undo  my  hands  and  give  me  the  paper." 

"  The  right  hand  only,"  said  Fourneaux,  with  his  accustomed 
timidity. 


184  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

"Pshaw,  unbind  him!"  exclaimed  Q-enevois ;  "unbind  him, 
wholly.  There,  Rene  Laudonniere,  you  are  free !" 

"  I  cannot  forgive  you,  Genevois ;  you  have  disgraced  me  for- 
ever," said  the  miserable  man,  as  he  dashed  his  signature  upon 
the  paper. 

"  You  will  survive  it,  mon  ami,"  replied  the  other,  with  some- 
thing like  contempt  upon  his  features.  "  You  are  not  the  man  to 
fret  yourself  into  fever,  because  of  your  hurts  of  honor.  And 
now  must  you  go  with  us  to  the  ships.  We  will  muffle  your  jaws 
once  more." 

"  You  will  not  carry  me  with  you,"  demanded  the  commander, 
with  something  like  trepidation  in  his  accents. 

"  No !  You  were  but  an  incumbrance.  We  will  only  take 
you  to  the  ships,  and  keep  you  safe  until  we  are  ready  to  cast  off. 
To  your  feet,  men,  and  get  your  weapons  ready.  Softly,  softly— 
we  need  rouse  no  other  sleepers.  Onward, — the  night  goes  !— « 
away !» 


XV. 

THE  MUTINEERS  AT  SEA. 

HISTORICAL    SUMMARY. 

FOR  fifteen  days  was  Laudonniere  kept  a  close  prisoner  by  the 
conspirators  on  board  of  one  of  his  own  vessels,  attended  by  one 
of  their  own  number,  and  denied  all  intercourse  with  his  friends 
and  people.  One  of  the  objects  of  this  rigid  duresse,  was  the 
coercion  of  the  garrison.  With  its  captain  in  their  power,  even 
were  his  followers  better  prepared,  with  the  proper  spirit  and  en- 
ergy, to  give  them  annoyance,  they  were  thus  able  to  put  them  at 
defiance  ;  since  any  show  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  garrison 
might  be  visited  upon  the  head  of  their  prisoner.  By  this  means 
they  got  possession  of  the  armory,  the  magazines,  the  granaries ; 
and,  when  ready  to  put  to  sea,  and  not  before,  did  they  release  the 
unhappy  commandant  from  his  degrading  durance. 

It  was  at  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  December,  that 
the  two  barks  which  the  conspirators  had  prepared  for  sea,  might 
have  been  seen  dropping  down  the  waters  of  May  River,  their 
white  sails  gleaming  through  the  distant  foliage.  At  the  same 
moment,  with  head  bowed  upon  his  bosom,  the  unhappy  Laudon- 
niere, for  the  first  time  fully  conscious  of  his  weakness  and  his 


186  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

misfortune, — deeply  sensible  now  to  all  his  shame  as  he  reflected 
upon  the  roving  commission  which  had  been  extorted  from  him  by 
the  mutineers, — turned  his  footsteps  from  the  banks  of  the  river, 
and  made  his  way  slowly  towards  the  fortress; — confident  no 
longer  in  his  strength — suspicious  of  the  faith  of  all  around  him 
— and  half  tempted  to  sink  his  shame  forever,  with  his  dishonored 
person,  in  the  waters  of  the  river  which  ha<J  witnessed  his  dis- 
grace. But  he  gathered  courage  to  live  when  he  thought  of  the 
revenge  which  fortune  might  yet  proffer  to  his  embrace. 

We  must  now  follow  the  progress  of  our  maritime  adventurers. 
They  had,  as  we  have  seen,  succeeded  in  fitting  out  two  barks ; 
one  on  which  was  confided  to  Bertrand  Conferrant,  one  of  Lau- 
donniere's  sergeants ;  the  other  to  a  soldier  named  D 'Orange. 
La  Croix  was  named  the  ensign  to  the  former ;  Trenchant,  the 
pilot  of  Laudonniere,  was  compelled,  against  his  will,  to  assume 
this  station  on  board  the  vessel  of  D 'Orange.  The  original  plan 
of  the  rovers  Was  to  pursue  a  common  route,  and  mutually  to  sup- 
port each  other :  but  the  plans  of  those  who  have  given  them- 
selves up  to  excess,  are  always  marked  by  caprices,  and  the  two 
parties  quarrelled  before  they  had  left  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
They  had  arranged  to  descend  together  upon  one  of  the  Spanish 
islands  of  the  Antilles,  and  on  Christmas  night,  while  the  inhab- 
itants were  assembled  at  the  midnight  mass,  at  their  church,  to 
set  upon  and  murder  the  inmates  and  sack  the  building  and  the 
town.  Their  dissentions  affected  this  purpose ;  and  when  they 
emerged  from  the  river  May,  they  parted  company  ; — one  of  the 
vessels  keeping  along  the  coast,  in  order  the  more  easily  to 
double  the  cape  and  make  for  Cuba ; — the  other  boldly  standing 
out  to  sea  and  making  for  the  Lucayos.  Both  vessels  proceeded 
with  criminal  celerity  to  the  performance  of  those  acts  of  piracy 


THE   MUTINEERS   AT    SEA.  187 

which  had  seduced  them  from  their  duties.  The  bark  which  took 
her  way  along  the-  coast,  was  that  of  D' Orange.  Near  a  place 
called  Archaha,  he  took  a  brigantine  laden  with  cassavi,  the  In- 
dian breadstuff,  and  a  small  quantity  of  wine.  Two  men  were 
slain,  two  taken  in  a  sharp  encounter  with  the  people  of  Archaha. 
Transferring  themselves  and  stores  to  the  brigantine  which  they 
had  captured,  on  account  of  its  superiority,  the  pirates  made  sail 
for  the  cape  of  Santa  Maria ;  and  from  thence,  after  repairing  a 
leak  in  their  vessel,  to  Baracou,  a  village  of  the  island  of  Jamaica. 
Here  they  found  an  empty  caravel  which  they  preferred  to  their 
brigantiner;  and  after  a  frolic  among  the  people  of  Baracou, 
which  lasted  five  days,  they  made  a  second  transfer  of  their  per- 
sons and  material  to  the  caravel.  Dividing  their  force  between 
their  own  and  this  vessel,  which  was  of  fifty  or  sixty  tons  burthen, 
they  made  for  the  Cape  of  Tiburon,  where  they  met  with  a  pa- 
tackj  to  which  chase  was  immediately  given.  A  sharp  encounter 
followed.  The  patach  was  well  manned  and  provided,  for  her 
size.  She  had  particular  reasons  for  giving  battle  and  for  fight- 
ing bravely.  Her  cargo  was  very  precious.  It  consisted  of 
a  large  supply  of  gold  and  silver  plate  and  bullion,  merchandise, 
wines,  provisions,  and  much  besides  to  tempt  the  rovers,  and 
quite  as  much  to  move  the  crew  to  a  vigorous  defence.  But, 
over  all,  it  had  a-board  the  Governor  of  Jamaica  himself,  with 
two  of  his  sons.  This  nobleman  was  equally  fearless  and  skilful. 
He  directed  the  resistance  of  his  people,  and  gave  them  efficient 
example.  But  the  force  of  our  rovers  was  quite  too  great  to  be 
successfully  resisted  by  one  so  small  as  that  of  the  Governor,  and 
he  directed  his  people  to  yield  the  combat,  as  soon  as  he  saw  its 


Greatly,  indeed,  were  our  free  companions  delighted  with  their 


188  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

successes.  The  treasure  they  had  acquired  was  large,  but  they 
were  not  the  persons  to  be  content  with  it.  They  were  apprised 
of  another  caravel  laden  with  greater  wealth  and  a  more  valuable 
merchandise,  and  they  followed  eagerly  after  this  prey.  But  she 
escaped  them,  getting  in  safety  into  the  port  of  Jamaica.  The 
governor  was  a  subtle  politician.  He  soon  discovered  the  charac- 
ter of  the  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and  he  wrought  succes- 
fully  upon  their  cupidity.  He  proposed  to  ransom  himself  at  an 
enormous  price  ;  and,  with  this  object,  they  stood  towards  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor  in  which  the  caravel  had  taken  shelter. 
Blinded  by  their  avarice,  our  rovers  were  persuaded  to  suffer  the 
governor  to  despatch  his  two  boys  to  their  mother,  his  wife,  in  a 
boat  which  his  captors  were  to  furnish.  The  boys  were  to  pro- 
cure his  ransom,  and  supplies  were  to  bo  sent  to  the  vessel  also. 
But  the  secret  counsel  of  the  Governor  to  his  sons,  contemplated 
no  such  ransom  as  the  free  companions  desired.  They  knew  not 
that,  in  one  of  the  contiguous  havens,  there  lay  two  or  more  ves- 
sels, superior  in  burthen  to  their  own,  and  manned  and  equipped 
for  war.  The  Governor,  with  but  a  look  and  a  word,  beheld  his 
sons  depart.  The  lads  knew  the  meaning  of  that  look,  and  that 
single  word  ;  they  felt  all  the  ignominy  of  their  father's  position, 
and  they  knew  their  duty.  A  noble  and  courageous  dame  was 
the  mother  of  those  boys.  With  tears  and  tremors  did  she  clasp 
her  children  to  her  breast ;  with  horror  did  she  hear  of  her  lord's 
captivity  ;  but  she  yielded  to  no  feminine  weaknesses  which  could 
retard  her  in  the  performance  of  her  duty.  Her  movements  were 
prompt  and  resolute.  The  Governor  concealed  his  anxieties,  and 
epoke  fairly  to  his  captors.  Quite  secure  in  their  strength  and 
position,  eager  with  expectations  of  further  gain,  rioting  in  the 
rich  wines  they  had  already  won,  they  entertained  no  apprehen 


THE   MUTINEERS    AT    SEA.  189 

sions  of  defeat  or  disappointment.  They  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the 
haven,  which  stretched  away  for  two  leagues  into  the  mainland. 
Here,  suddenly,  about  the  break  of  day,  they  saw  emerging  through 
a  heavy  fog,  a  couple  of  vessels  of  greater  size  than  their  own. 
Apprehending  no  danger,  the  pirates  were  taken  by  surprise 
The  enemy  was  upon  them  before  they  could  prepare  for  action, 
and  they  had  scarcely  an  opportunity  to  attempt  their  flight.  A 
volley  of  Spanish  shot  soon  rang  against  their  sides,  and  as  the 
trumpets  of  D'Orange,  from  his  brigantine,  blew  to  announce  their 
danger  to  those  in  charge  of  the  captured  vessels,  he  cut  his 
cables  and  stood  off  for  sea,  closely  pressed  by  his  swift-footed 
enemies.  Then  it  was  that,  watching  his  moment,  the  Governor 
of  Jamaica  seized  upon  the  enemy  nearest  him  and  plunged  him 
into  the  sea.  His  example  was  followed  by  his  people,  and  the 
Spaniards  coming  up  with  the  captured  patach  at  the  fortunate 
moment,  the  Frenchmen,  with  whom  it  was  left  in  charge,  threw 
down  their  arms,  and  yielded  themselves  at  discretion  to  their 
enemies.  Both  vessels  were  recovered,  while  the  brigantine  of 
D'Orange,  well  navigated  by  Trenchant,  succeeded  in  showing  a 
clean  pair  of  heels  to  her  pursuers.  The  chase  continued  for 
several  leagues  without  success  ;  and  the  brigantine,  passing  Cape 
des  Aigrettes,  and  the  Cape  of  St.  Anthony,  swept  on  to  the 
Havanna.  This  was  the  desired  destination  of  D'Orange  ;  but  his 
people  were  not  wholly  with  him.  Several  of  them,  like  Tren- 
chant, the  pilot,  had  been  forced  to  accompany  the  expedition. 
These  were  anxious  to  escape  from  a  connection  which  was  not 
only  against  their  desires,  but  was  likely,  by  the  crimes  of  their 
superiors,  to  result  in  the  destruction  of  the  innocent.  Accord- 
ingly, under  the  guidance  of  Trenchant,  a  conspiracy  was  con- 
ceived against  the  conspirators.  The  wind  serving,  while  D'Orange 


190  THE   LILT   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

slept,  Trenchant  passed  the  channel  of  the  Bahamas,  and  made 
over  for  the  settlement  on  May  River.  The  route  taken  was  un- 
suspected, until  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  March,  when  they 
found  themselves  upon  the  coast  of  Florida.  By  this  time,  it 
was  too  late  to  prevent  the  determination  of  those  who  had  re- 
solved upon  their  return  to  La  Caroline.  The  latter  had  grown 
strong  by  consultation  together,  and  the  true  men  urged  the  less 
guilty  of  the  conspirators  with  promises  of  pardon  at  the  hands 
of  Laudonniere.  This  hope  gradually  extended  to  some  of  the 
most  guilty ;  but  the  discussion  which  led  to  this  conclusion,  was 
productive  of  a  scene  which  strikingly  illustrates  the  profligacy 
of  the  human  heart,  particularly  when  it  once  throws  off  the  re- 
straints of  social  authority.  The  unhappy  criminals,  in  nominal 
command  of  the  roving  brigantine  were  prepared  to  dance  upon 
the  brink  of  the  precipice, — to  sport  with  the  dangers  imme- 
diately before  them,  and  convert  into  a  farce  the  very  tragedy 
whose  denouement  they  had  every  reason  to  dread.  Well  charged 
with  wine,  and  quaffing  full  beakers  to  fortune,  they  suddenly 
conceived  the  idea  of  a  mock  court  of  justice,  for  the  trial  of 
their  own  offences.  The  idea  was  scarcely  suggested  than  it  was 
fastened  upon  by  the  wanton  imaginations  of  this  besotted  crew. 
The  court  was  convened,  on  the  deck  of  the  vessel,  as  it  would  have 
been  at  La  Caroline.  One  of  the  parties  personated  the  character 
of  the  judge  :  another  counterfeited  the  costume  and  manner  of 
Laudonniere,  and  appeared  as  the  accuser.  Counsel  was  heard  on 
both  sides.  There  were  officers  to  wait  upon  and  obey  the  de- 
crees of  the  court.  The  cases  were  elaborately  argued.  Heavy 
accusations  were  made  ;  ingenious  pleas  put  in  ;  and  in  the  very 
excess  of  their  recklessness,  their  ingenuity  became  triumphant. 
They  showed  themselves  excellent  actors,  if  not  excellent  men ; 


THE   MUTINEERS   AT   SEA.  191 

and  caught  from  their  own  art,  a  momentary  respite  from  the  op- 
pressive doubts  which  hung  upon  their  destinies.  It  was  some- 
what ominous,  however,  that  their  judge — himself  ope  of  the  most 
guilty — should  say  to  them,  when  summing  up  for  judgment — . 
"  Make  your  case  as  clear  as  you  please — exert  your  ingenuity  as 
you  may,  in  finding  excuses,  yet,  take  my  word  for  it,  that,  when 
you  reach  La  Caroline,  if  Laudonniere  causes  you  not  to  swing 
for  it,  then  I  will  never  take  him  for  an  honest  man  again." 

This  may  have  been  intended  as  a  mere  jocularity.  But  fate 
frequently  shapes  our  own  words,  as  she  does  those  of  the  oracle, 
in  that  double  sense,  which  confounds  the  judgment  while  it  ensures 
the  doom.  The  counterfeit  judge  spoke  prophetically.  It  was 
only  when  the  offenders  were  fairly  in  the  hands  of  Laudonniere, 
beyond  escape  or  remedy,  that  they  were  taught  to  ap- 
prehend that  they  had  too  greatly  exaggerated  their  sense 
of  his  mercy.  He  detached  immediately  from  the  rest 
four  of  the  leading  criminals,  who  were  put  in  fetters.  That 
was  the  judgment  that  prefigured  their  doom.  They  were 
sentenced  to  be  hanged.  They  strove  to  question  this  judgment. 
The  pleasant  jest  which  they  had  enjoyed  on  ship-board  was  quite 
too  recent,  to  suffer  them  to  forego  the  hope  that  this  summary 
decision  upon  their  fate  would  turn  out  a  jest  also.  But  when 
they  could  doubt  no  longer,  three  of  them  took  to  their  prayers 
with  an  appearance  of  much  real  contrition.  The  fourth, — a 
sturdy  villain, — still  had  his  faith  in  human  agency.  He  appeal- 
ed for  protection  to  his  friends  and  comrades. 

"  What,"  said  he,  "  brethren  and  companions,  will  you  suffer  us 
to  die  so  shamefully  ?" 

"  These  are  none  of  your  companions,"  said  Laudonniere ; — 


192  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

"  they  are  no  authors  of  seditions — no  rebels  unto  the  king's  ser* 
vice.     Ye  appeal  to  them  in  vain." 

A  corps  of  thirty  soldiers  with  their  matchlocks  ready,  and 
under  the  command  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  who  had  returned 
from  his  Indian  expedition,  and  who  now  stood  ready  and  prompt 
to  execute  the  orders  of  the  chief,  were,  perhaps,more  potent  in 
silencing  the  appeal  of  the  mutineer,  and  quieting  the  active  sym- 
pathies of  those  to  whom  he  prayed,  than  all  the  words  of  Lau- 
donniere.  But,  at  the  entreaty  of  his  people,  the  form  of  pun- 
ishment was  changed,  and  the  criminals,  instead  of  perishing  by 
the  rope,  met  their  death  from  the  matchlock.  Among  the  vic- 
tims of  this  necessary  justice,  were  three  of  the  original  conspi- 
rators, and  the  ringleader,  Stephen  le  Genevois.  Thus  ends  the 
history  of  one  of  our  roving  vessels.  The  other,  commanded  by 
Bertrand  Conferrent,  which  we  parted  with,  on  her  progress  to- 
wards the  Lucayos,  was  never  heard  of  after,  and  probably  per- 
ished in  the  deeps,  with  all  her  besotted  crew.  Let  us  now  leave 
the  ocean,  and  follow,  for  a  season,  the  progress  of  Alphonse 
D'Erlach  upon  the  land,  and  into  the  territories  of  Paracoussi 
Hostaqua. 


XVI. 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  D'ERLACH. 

IT  was  in  sullen  and  half  resentful  mood  that  Alphonse  D'Ar- 
lach  parted  from  his  superior  at  the  gates  of  La  Caroline.  Not 
that  he  felt  any  chagrin  because  of  an  outraged  self-esteem,  on 
account  of  his  rejected  counsels.  His  mortification  and  annoy- 
ance arose  from  his  vexation  at  leaving  a  man  in  the  hands  of  his 
enemies,  whom  he  could  not  persuade  of  his  danger,  and  who 
was,  by  this  very  proceeding,  depriving  himself  of  the  only 
means  with  which  he  may  have  safely  combated  their  hostility. 
It  was  probably  with  a  justifiable  sense  of  his  own  efficiency,  that 
D'Erlach  felt  how  necessary  was  his  presence  in  the  garrison  at 
this  juncture.  He  was  quite  familiar  with  the  vanity  of  Laudon- 
niere,  his  several  weaknesses  of  character,  and  the  facility  with 
which  he  might  be  deluded  by  the  selfish  and  the  artful.  But  he 
had  counselled  him  in  vain  ;  and  it  was  with  a  feeling  somewhat 
allied  to  scorn,  that  he  was  taught  to  see  that  his  superior,  having 
hitherto  regarded  him  with  something  more  than  friendship — as  a 
favorite  indeed — had  now,  in  consequence  of  the  most  important 
services,  begun  to  look  upon  him  somewhat  in  the  light  of  a 
rival.  We  have  witnessed  the  last  interview  between  them.  We 
are  already  in  possession  of  the  events  which  followed  the  absence 


194  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

of  the  lieutenant ;  events  which  positively  would  not  have  taken 
place,  had  not  the  scheme  proved  successful  for  procuring  his  ab- 
sence from  the  fortress.  Laudonniere's  conscience  smote  him 
with  a  sense  of  his  ingratitude,  as  the  flowing  plumes  of  D'Erlach 
disappeared  amidst  the  distant  umbrage  ;  but  he  had  no  misgiv- 
ings of  that  danger  which  the  prescient  thought  of  his  lieutenant 
had  described  as  already  threatening.  He  had  sufficient  time  al- 
lowed him  to  meditate  equally  upon  his  own  blindness  and  the 
foresight  of  the  youth,  while  his  mutineers,  for  fifteen  days  kept 
him  a  close  prisoner  on  board  his  own  brigantine ! 

During  this  period,  his  young  lieutenant,  with  his  twenty 
Frenchmen,  was  making  his  way  from  forest  to  forest,  under  the 
somewhat  capricious  guidance  of  the  subtle  savage,  Oolenoe. 
D'Erlach  was  more  than  once  dissatisfied  with  this  progress.  He 
found  himself  frequently  doubling,  as  it  wore,  upon  his  own 
ground  ;  not  steadily  ascending  the  country  in  the  supposed  direc- 
tion of  the  Apatahhian  Mountains,  but  rather  inclining  to  the 
southwest,  and  scarcely  seeming  to  leave  those  lower  steppes 
which  belonged  wholly  to  the  province  of  the  sea.  Without  ab- 
solutely suspecting  his  dusky  guide,  D'Erlach  was  eminently 
watchful  of  him,  and  frequently  pressed  his  inquiries  in  regard  to 
the  route  they  were  pursuing, — when — noting  the  course  of  the 
sun,  he  found  himself  still  turning  away  from  those  distant  moun- 
tain summits  which  were  said  to  await  them  in  the  north,  with  all 
their  world  of  treasure.  The  plea  of  Oolenoe,  while  acknowledg- 
ing a  temporary  departure  from  the  proper  path,  alleged  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  country,  the  spread  of  extensive  morasses,  or  the 
presence  of  nations  of  hostile  Indians,  which  cut  off  all  direct 
communication  with  the  province  which  they  sought. 

To  all  this  D'Erlach  had  nothing  to  oppose.     The  pretences 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D5ERLACH.  195 

seemed  sufficiently  specious,  and  he  continued  to  advance  deep 
and  deeper  into  the  internal  intricacies  of  the  unbroken  wild, 
making  a  progress,  day  by  day,  into  regions  which  the  European 
had  never  penetrated  before.  On  this  progress,  each  soldier  had 
been  provided  with  a  certain  allowance  of  food  of  a  portable 
nature,  which  was  calculated  to  last  many  days.  The  adop- 
tion of  the  Indian  customs,  in  several  respects,  had  made  it  easy 
to  provide.  The  maize  and  beans  of  the  country  constituted  the 
chief  supply.  The  former,  and  sometimes  both,  crushed  or 
ground,  separately  or  together,  and  browned  slightly  before  the 
fire,  furnished  a  wholesome  and  literally  palatable  provision  for 
such  a  journey.  They  were  also  to  receive  supplies  from  the 
contributions  of  Indian  tribes  through  who&e  settlements  they 
were  to  pass,  and  to  traffic  with  other  nations  whom  as  yet  they 
did  not  know.  With  this  latter  object  the  party  was  provided 
with  a  small  stock  of  European  trifles — knives,  reaphooks,  small 
mirrors,  and  things  of  this  description. 

Thus  provided,  they  pressed  forward  for  several  days,  on  a 
journey  which  brought  them  no  nearer  to  the  province  which  they 
sought.  Still  the  country  through  which  they  travelled  was 
unbroken  by  a  mountain.  Gentle  eminences  saluted  their  eyes, 
and  they  sometimes  toiled  over  hills  which,  even  their  exhaus- 
tion, which  rendered  irksome  the  ascent,  did  not  venture  to 
compare  with  those  mighty  ranges,  scaling  the  clouds,  of  which 
the  swelling  narratives  of  the  savage  chiefs,  and  their  own  adven- 
turers, had  given  such  extravagant  ideas.  In  this  march  they 
probably  reached  the  Savannah,  and  crossed  its  waters  to  the 
rivers  of  Carolina.  The  scenery  improved  in  loveliness,  and  to 
those  who  are  accessible  to  the  influences  of  mere  external 
beauty,  the  progress  at  every  step  was  productive  of  its  own 


196  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

charm.  Gentle  valleys  spread  away  before  them  in  the  embrace 
of  guardian  ranges  of  hill,  and  clear  streams  gushed  out  through 
banks  that  seemed  to  gladden  in  perpetual  green.  Enormous 
trees  spread  over  them  a  grateful  cover  from  the  sun,  and  lus- 
cious berries  of  the  wood,  and  unknown  fruits,  green  and  purple, 
were  to  be  found  lying  in  their  path,  which  was  everywhere  tra- 
versed by  the  trailing  vines  which  produced  them.  Birds  of 
unknown  plumage,  and  of  wild  and  startling  song,  darted  out 
from  the  brake  to  cheer  them  as  they  passed; and  as  they  reached 
the  steeps  of  sudden  hills,  they  could  catch  glimpses  of  herds  of 
sleek  deer,  that  sped  away  with  arrowy  fleetness  from  the  green 
valleys  where  they  browsed,  to  the  cover  of  umbrageous  thickets 
where  they  lodged  in  safety. 

The  mind  of  the  soldier,  however,  particularly  the  adventurer 
whom  one  passionate  thirst  alone  impels,  is  scarcely  ever  sensible 
to  the  charms  and  attractions  of  the  visible  nature.  Where  they 
appeal  simply  to  his  sense  of  the  beautiful,  they  are  but  wasted 
treasures,  like  gems  that  pave  the  great  bed  of  ocean,  and  have 
no  value  to  the  finny  tribes  that  glide  below — each  seeking  the 
selfish  object  which  marks  his  nature.  The  passion  for  the  beau- 
tiful, with  but  few  exceptions,  is  a  passion  that  belongs  to  training 
and  education ;  and  even  these  seldom  suffice,  in  the  presence  of 
more  morbid  desires,  to  wean  the  attention  to  the  things  of  taste, 
unless  these  are  recognized  as  accessories  of  the  object  of  a  more 
intense  appetite.  Even  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  the  eleve  of  a  supe- 
rior class — one  who  had  been  benefitted  by  society  and  the 
schools,  appreciated  but  imperfectly  the  loveliness  of  the  land- 
scape, and  the  fresh  luxuriance  of  a  vegetable  life  in  a  region  that 
seemed  so  immediately  from  the  hands  of  its  Creator.  His  thoughts 
were  of  another  nature.  His  anxieties  were  elsewhere.  His  eye 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D'ERLACH.  197 

was  fixed  upon  his  Indian  guide,  of  whom  his  doubts  had  now 
become  suspicions.  Nightly  had  Oolenoe  disappeared  from  the 
encampment.  It  was  in  vain  that  our  lieutenant  set  spies  upon 
his  movements.  He  would  disappear  without  giving  the  alarm, 
and  re-appear,  when  least  expected,  before  the  dawning.  D'Er- 
lach's  vigilance  was  increased.  He  did  not  suffer  his  men  to 
straggle ;  marching  with  care  by  day,  his  watches  were  equally 
divided  by  night,  and  his  own  eyes  were  kept  open  by  intense 
anxiety,  through  hours  when  most  were  sleeping.  Occasionally, 
glimpses  of  Indians  were  caught  on  distant  hills,  or  on  the  edge 
of  suddenly  glancing  waters.  But  any  attempt  to  approach  sent 
••Tihem  into  their  canoes,  or  over  the  hill  side — increasing  the  suspi- 
cions of  D'Erlach,  and  awakening  the  apprehensions  of  his  men. 
A  something  of  insolence  in  the  tone  and  manner  of  Oolenoe  led 
our  young  lieutenant  to  suppose  that  the  moment  of  trial  was  at 
hand  ;  and  he  already  began  to  meditate  the  seizure  of  his  guide, 
as  a  security  for  the  conduct  of  the  Indians,  when  an  incident 
occurred  which  the  foresight  of  our  lieutenant,  great  as  it  was, 
had  never  led  him  to  anticipate. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  a  lovely  evening  in  September,  when  the 
little  detachment  of  Frenchmen  were  rounding  a  ravine.  Oolenoe 
tvas  advanced  with  D'Erlach  some  few  paces  before  the  rest. 
-  >oth  of  them  were  silent ;  but  they  pressed  forward  stoutly, 
irough  a  simple  forest  trail,  over  which  the  Frenchmen  followed 
a  Indian  file.  Suddenly,  their  march  was  arrested  by  a  cry  from 
he  foot  of  the  ravine,  in  the  rear  of  the  party,  and  along  the 
,ath  which  they  had  recently  traversed.  The  cry  was  human, 
.t  was  that  of  a  voice  very  familiar  to  the  ears  of  the  party.  It 
fas  evidently  meant  to  compel  attention  and  arrest  their  progress. 
It  the  instant,  D'Erlach  wheeled  about  and  made  for  the  rear. 


198  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

A  similar  movement  changed  in  like  manner  the  faces  of  his  fol- 
lowers ;  and,  in  a  moment  after,  a  strange,  but  human  form  darted 
out  of  the  forest  and  made  towards  them. 

The  appearance  of  the  stranger  was  wild  beyond  description. 
He  had  evidently  once  been  white  ;  but  his  face,  hands,  breast, 
and  legs,  for  these  were  all  uncovered,  had  been  blackened  by 
smoke,  bronzed  by  the  sun,  and  so  affected  by  the  weather,  that 
it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  his  true  complexion  was 
discernible.  But  sure  instincts  and  certain  features  soon  enabled 
our  Huguenots  to  see  that  he  was  a  brother  Frenchman.  Of  his 
original  garments,  nothing  but  tatters  remained  ;  but  these  tatters 
sufficed  to  declare  his  nation.  His  beard  and  hair,  both  black, 
long,  and  massive,  were  matted  together,  and  hung  upon  neck 
and  shoulders  in  flakes  and  bunches,  rather  than  in  shreds  or 
tresses.  His  head  was  without  covering,  and  the  only  weapon 
which  he  carried  was  a  couteau  de  chasse,  which,  as  it  was  of 
peculiar  dimensions,  silver-hilted,  and  altogether  of  curious  shape, 
was  probably  the  only  means  by  which  the  Frenchmen  identified 
the  stranger. 

The  keen,  quick  eye  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  seemed  first,  of 
the  whites,  to  have  discovered  him.  It  is  probable,  from  what 
took  place  at  the  moment,  that  Oolenoe  had  made  him  out  in 
the  same  moment.  The  stranger  was  no  other  than  Le  Genre — 
the  banished  man  who  had  headed  the  first  conspiracy  against 
Laudonniere.  As  he  approached,  rushing  wildly  forward,  with 
his  couteau  de  chasse  grasped  firmly  in  uplifted  hand,  D'Erlach 
raised  his  sword,  prepared  to  cut  him  down  as  he  drew  nigh  ; 
when  the  words  of  his  voice,  shouted  at  the  utmost  of  his  strength, 
caused  them  to  cast  their  eyes  in  another  direction. 

u  Seize  upon  Oolenoe.     Suffer  him  not  to  escape  you." 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D'ERLACH.  199 

At  that  moment,  the  keen,  quick  glance  of  the  lieutenant  be- 
held the  rapid  bounds  of  the  savage,  as  he  made  for  the  cover  of 
the  neighboring  thicket.     His  orders  were  instantly  given.     A 
dozen  bodies  instantly  sprang  forward  in  pursuit — a  dozen  match- 
locks were  lifted  in  deadly  aim,  but  the  lithe  savage  doubling 
like   a   hare,   bounding    forward,  now  squat,   and    seeming    to 
fly  along  the  surface  of  the  ground  like  a  lapwing,  stealthy  in 
every  movement  as  a  cat,  as  swift  and  agile, — succeeded  in  gain- 
ing the  woods,  though  the  carbines  rang  with  their  volley,  and, 
throwing  down  their  weapons,  a  score  of  the  light-limbed  French- 
men started  in  the  chase.  A  wild  warwhoop  followed  the  discharge 
of  the   pieces,  declaring  equally  the  defiance  and  disdain  of  the 
savage.     The  pursuit  was  idle,  as  a  few  seconds  enabled  him  to 
find  shelter  in  a  morass,  which  the  inexperienced  Europeans  knew 
not  how  to  penetrate.     Alphonse  D'Erlach  recalled  his  men  from 
pursuit,  fearing  lest  they  might  fall  into  an  ambush,  in  which, 
wasting  their  ammunition  against  invisible   enemies,  they  would 
only  incur  the  risk  of  total  destruction.     He  prepared  to  confront 
the  stranger,  whose  first  appearance  had  been  productive  of  such 
a  startling  occurrence.     Le  Genre,  meanwhile,  had  paused  in  his 
progress.     He  no  longer  rushed  forward  like  a  maniac  ;  but  satis- 
fied with  having  given  the  impulse  to  the  pursuit  of  Oolenoe,  and 
apparently  conscious  of  how  much  was  startling  in  his  appearance, 
he  now  stood  beside  a  pine  which  overhung  the  path,  one  hand 
resting  against  the  mighty  shaft,  as  if  from  fatigue,  while  from 
the  other  his  couteau  de  ehasse  now  drooped,  its  sharp  extremity 
pointing  to  the  ground. 

His  appearance  thus  indicated  a  pacific  disposition ;  but  remem- 
bering his  ancient  treacheries  only,  and  suspicious  of  his  relations 
with  Oolenoe,  D'Erlach  approached  him  with  caution,  as  if  to  the 


200  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

encounter  with  an  enemy.  As  he  drew  nigh,  followed  by  his 
band,  Le  Genre  addressed  them  with  mournful  accents. 

"  Is  there  no  faith  for  me  hereafter,  mes  amis  ?  Am  I  forever 
cut  off  from  the  communion  with  my  comrades  ?  Shall  there  be 
no  fellowship  between  us,  D'Erlach  ?  Shall  we  not  forget  the 
past — shall  I  not  be  forgiven  for  my  crime,  even  when  I  repent  it 
in  bitterness  and  bloody  tears.  Behold,  my  brother — I  proffer 
you  the  last  assurance." 

These  words  were  accompanied  by  a  sign,  that  of  the  mystic 
brotherhood — the  ancient  masons — which  none  but  a  few  of  the 
party  beheld  or  comprehended.  The  weapon  of  Alphonse  D'Er- 
lach was  dropped  instantly,  and  his  hand  extended.  He,  too, 
belonged  to  the  ancient  order,  and  the  security  which  was  guaran- 
teed by  the  exhibition  of  its  token,  on  the  part  of  the  offender, 
served,  when  all  other  pleas  would  have  failed,  to  secure  him 
sympathy  and  protection. 

u  I  have  sinned,  Alphonse — I  know  it — beyond  forgiveness — 
sinned  like  a  madman  ;  but  I  have  borne  the  penalty.  Seldom 
has  human  sinner  suffered  from  mental  penalty,  as  I  from  mine. 
Behold  me  !  look  I  longer  human  ?  I  have  taken  up  my  covert 
with  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert,  and  they  fly  from  my  presence 
as  from  a  savage  more  fearful  than  any  they  know.  In  my 
own  desperation  I  have  had  no  fears.  I  have  herded  with  beast 
and  reptile,  and  longed  for  their  hostility.  I  have  lived  through 
all,  though  I  craved  not  to  live,  ancf  the  food  which  would  have 
choked  or  poisoned  the  man  not  an  outcast  from  communion  with 
his  fellows,  has  kept  me  strong,  with  a  cruel  vitality  that  has 
increased  by  suffering.  The  crude  berries  of  the  wood,  the  indi- 
gestible roots  of  the  earth,  I  have  devoured  with  a  hideous  crav- 
ing ;  and,  in  the  griefs  and  privations  of  my  body,  my  mind  has 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D?ERLACH.  201 

been  purged  of  its  impurities.  I  have  seen  my  sin  in  its  true 
colors — my  folly,  my  vicious  passions,  the  wretch  that  I  was — the 
miserable  outlaw  and  destitute  that  I  am  !  That  I  repent  of  the 
crimes  that  I  have  done  and  sought  to  do,  is  the  good  fruit  of  this 
bitter  on  which  I  have  rather  preyed  than  fed.  I  wrote  to 
Laudonniere  of  my  sorrow  and  repentance,  but  he  refused  to  hear 
me.  Bourdet  I  sought,  that  he  might  take  me  once  more  to 
France  ;  but  he  too  dreaded  communion  with  me  ;  and  when  I 
rushed  into  his  boat,  he  only  bore  me  to  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
river,  and  set  me  down  to  the  exploration  of  new  forests,  and  the 
endurance  of  new  tortures.  I  blame  them  not,  that  they  would 
not  believe  me — that  they  refused  faith  in  one  who  had  violated  all 
faith  before — that,  equally  due  to  his  God  and  to  his  sovereign. 
Oh  !  brother,  do  not  you  drive  me  from  you  also  !" 

And  the  miserable  outlaw  clasped  his  hands  passionately  together 
in  entreaty,  with  a  face  wild  with  woe  and  despair,  and  would 
have  fallen  prostrate  in  humiliation  before  his  comrades,  if  the 
arm  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  had  not  sustained  him. 

li  But  what  of  this  savage,  Oolenoe  !"  demanded  the  lieutenant, 
when  the  first  burst  of  grief  had  subsided  from  the  lips  of  Le 
Genre. 

"  Ah  !  you  know  that  I  have  been  the  prisoner  to  this  savage, 

nd  to  the  very  comrades  of  my  sin.     For  this  I  have  pursued 

you  hither.     While  you  march  onward  to  snares  such  as  the 

savages  of   Potanou  have    provided  for  you  by  means  of  this 

Oolenoe,  treachery  is  busy  and  successful  at  La  Caroline." 

"  Successful  ?" 

"  Ay  !  successful !  But  hear  me.  When  I  fled  to  the  forest, 
took  shelter  first  with  the  people  of  Satouriova.  I  was  found 
at  and  followed  by  Fourneaux,  Stephen  Le  Genevois,  and  La 


202  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Roquette.  To  them,  at  times,  came  La  Croix,  whom  Laudon- 
niere  still  trusted,  and  whom  even  you  did  not  suspect.  They 
came  to  me  with  new  plans.  They  were  to  contrive  pretexts  for 
sending  you  off  to  a  distance,  with  the  best  men  of  the  garrison. 
Oolenoe  was  a  ready  agent  at  once  of  Potanou,  Satouriova,  and 
the  conspirators.  In  your  absence,  they  were  to  get  possession  of 
the  garrison  and  secure  the  person  of  Laudonniere." 

"  You  mean  not  to  say,  Le  Genre,  that  they  have  succeeded 
in  this  ?" 

"  Ay,  do  1 — the  garrison  is  in  their  hands — the  shipping  ;  and 
Laudonniere  is  himself  a  close  prisoner  on  board  the  unfinished 
brigantine." 

"  God  of  heaven  !   and  I  am  here  !" 

"  When  the  conspirators  found  that  I  no  longer  agreed  to 
second  them  in  their  machinations,  and  when  I  threatened  to 
expose  them  to  Laudonniere,  they  employed  Oolenoe  to  secure 
my  person.  Five  of  his  people  beset  me  at  the  same  moment, 
and  held  me  fast  in  one  of  their  wigwams  until  their  scheme  had 
been  carried  into  execution.  With  Laudonniere  in  their  hands, 
I  was  abandoned  by  my  keepers,  and  suffered  to  go  forth.  From 
them  I  learned  the  history  of  all  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
colony.  I  saw  the  danger,  and  felt  that  the  only  hope  for  Laudon- 
niere lay  in  you.  Fortunately,  I  had  only  to  follow  those  who 
had  held  me  captive,  in  order  to  find  the  route  that  you  had  taken. 
The  people  of  Oolenoe  were  soon  upon  his  tracks.  I  compassed 
theirs.  It  is  one  profit  in  the  outlawed  life  which  I  have  been 
doomed  to  endure,  that  it  has  taught  me  the  arts  of  the  savage — 
taught  me  the  instincts  of  the  beast, — his  stealth,  his  endurance, 
his  far-sight,  and  his  eager  and  appreciating  scent.  Hark !  dost 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D'ERLACH.  203 

hear !  Put  thy  men  in  order.  The  subtle  savage  is  about  to  gird 
thee  in." 

Scarcely  had  he  spoken,  when  the  forest  was  alive  with  cries  of 
warfare.  Wild  whoops  rang  through  the  great  avenues  of  wood, 
and  sudden  glimpses  of  the  red-men,  followed  by  nights  of  arrows, 
warned  the  Frenchmen  still  more  emphatically  to  prepare  against 
the  danger.  But  the  arrows,  though  discharged  with  skill  and 
muscle,  were  sent  from  far ; — the  dread  of  the  European  fire- 
arms prompting  a  decent  caution,  which,  in  a  great  degree,  less- 
ened the  superiority  which  the  savages  possessed  in  numbers. 
The  woods  were  now  filled  with  enemies.  Tribe  after  tribe  had 
collected,  along  their  route,  as  the  Frenchmen  had  advanced, 
and  every  forward  step  had  served  only  to  increase  the  great  im- 
pediments in  the  way  of  their  return.  It  was  due  wholly  to  the 
excellence  of  the  watch  nightly  kept  by  D'Erlach,  that  they  had 
not  been  butchered  while  they  slept.  It  was  in  consequence  of 
his  admirable  caution,  and  provision  against  attack  while  they 
marched,  that  they  had  not  fallen  into  frequent  ambush,  as  they 
moved  by  noonday.  Nightly  had  the  subtle  chief,  Oolenoe,  stolen 
away  to  his  comrades,  arraying  his  numbers,  and  counselling  their 
pursuit  and  progress.  His  schemes  detected,  the  mask  was 
thrown  aside  as  no  longer  of  use,  and  open  warfare  was  the  cry 
through  the  forests.  The  necessity  was  before  our  Frenchmen  of 
fighting  their  way  back.  The  effort  of  the  red-men  was  to  cut 
them  off  in  detail,  by  frequent  surprises,  by  incessant  assaults  and 
annoyances,  and  by  straitening  them  in  the  search  after  water  and 
provisions. 

It  would  be  a  weary  task  to  pursue,  day  by  day,  and  hour  by 
hour,  the  thousand  details,  by  which  each  party  endeavored  to 
attain  its  object.  The  events  of  such  a  conflict  must  necessarily 


204  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

be  monotonous  Enough  to  say,  that  the  whole  genius  of 
Alphonse  D'Erlach  was  brought  forth  during  the  constant  emer- 
gencies of  his  march  and  proved  equal  to  them  all.  His  first  ob- 
ject was  to  pursue  a  new  route  on  his  return.  This  greatly  short 
ened  the  distance,  and  increased  the  chances  of  food5  since  it  was 
only  from  the  route  along  which  he  came  that  Oolenoe  had  con- 
trived the  removal  of  all  the  provisions.  The  progress  was  thus 
varied  on  their  return.  It  was  enlivened  by  incessant  attacks  of 
the  savages.  Their  arrows  were  continually  showered  upon  our 
Frenchmen  from  every  thicket  that  could  afford  an  ambush  ;  but, 
habited  as  they  were  with  the  escaupil,  or  stuffed  cotton  doublets, 
which  the  Spaniards  had  invented  for  protection  in  their  warfare 
with  the  Indians,  the  damage  from  this  source  was  comparatively 
small.  Some  few  of  the  Frenchmen  were  galled  by  slight  wounds, 
one  or  two  were  seriously  hurt,  and  one  of  them  suffered  the  loss 
of  an  eye.  In  all  these  conflicts,  Le  Genre  fought  with  the 
greatest  bravery — with  a  valor,  indeed,  that  seemed  to  set  at 
scorn  every  thought  of  danger  or  disaster.  He  was  always  the 
first  to  rush  forward  to  the  assault,  and  always  the  last  to  leave 
the  pursuit,  when  the  trumpets  sounded  the  recal.  He  proved  an 
admirable  second  to  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  and  materially  contri- 
buted to  the  success  of  the  various  plans  adopted  by  the  latter 
for  the  safety  of  his  people. 

It  was  the  ninth  day  from  "that  on  which  they  left  La  Caroline, 
when  Le  Genre  made  his  appearance,  and  Oolenoe  fled  to  the 
forests.  Six  days  had  they  been  engaged  in  their  backward 
journey.  In  this  route,  diverging  greatly  from  that  which  they 
had  pursued  before,  and  following  the  course  indicated  by  the  sun 
with  a  remarkable  judgment,  which  tended  still  more  to  raise  the 
reputation  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  in  the  eyes  of  his  followers,  they 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    D'ERLACH.  205 

suddenly  struck  into  a  path  with  which  Le  Genre  himself  was 
familiar.  It  proved  to  be  one  of  those  which  he  had  pursued  on 
a  previous  occasion,  when,  in  the  possession  of  the  confidence  of 
his  chief,  he  had  been  permitted  to  lead  forth  a  party  for  explora- 
tion. Our  Frenchmen  now  knew  where  they  were,  and  thirty-six 
hours  of  steady  travelling  would,  they  felt  assured,  bring  them 
within  sight'  of  the  fortress  of  La  Caroline.  But,  as  if  the  in- 
veterate chieftain,  Oolenoe,  had  made  a  like  discovery  at  the  same 
moment,  his  assaults  became  more  desperate,  and  were  urged  with 
a  singular  increase  of  skill  and  fury.  Now  it  was  that  the  bar- 
barian tribes  of  Florida  seemed  to  gather  into  a  host — such  a 
host  as  encountered  the  famous  Ponce  de  Leon  and  other  Spanish 
chieftains  when  they  sought  to  overrun  the  land.  They  no  longer 
sped  their  arrows  from  a  distance,  which,  in  giving  themselves 
security  from  the  fire-arms  of  the  Frenchmen,  rendered  their  own 
shafts  in  great  degree  innocuous.  But  it  was  observed  that, 
when  they  had  succeeded  in  drawing  the  fire  of  the  Frenchmen  by 
two  successive  assaults,  they  usually  grew  bolder  at  a  third,  and 
oame  forward  with  an  audacity  which  seemed  to  put  at  defiance 
equally  the  weapons  and  the  spirit  of  their  enemies.  The  in- 
equality of  numbers  between  the  respective  parties,  made  this 
subtle  policy  of  Oolenoe  particularly  dangerous  to  the  weaker. 
Alphonse  D'Erlach  felt  his  danger,  and  the  openly-expressed  ap- 
prehensions of  Le  Grenre  declared  it.  The  subject  was  one  of  great 
anxiety.  The  whole  day  had  been  spent  in  conflicts, — conflicts 
which  were  interrupted,  it  is  true,  by  frequent  intervals  of  rest, 
but  which  continued  to  increase  in  their  violence  as  evening 
approached.  Several  of  the  Frenchmen  were  now  wounded,  two 
of  them  dangerously,  and  all  of  them  were  greatly  wearied.  Le 
Genre  urged  D'Erlach  to  a  night  movement,  in  which  they  might 


206  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

leave  their  enemies  behind  them,  and  perhaps  cause  them  to  give 
up  the  pursuit,  particularly  as  they  would  then  be  almost  within 
striking  distance  of  La  Caroline  ;  but  the  coolness  and  judgment 
of  D'Erlach  had  not  deserted  him,  or  been  impaired  by  his 
increase  of  difficulties. 

"  And  how,"  said  he,  "  am  I  to  know  whether  we  shall  find 
friends  or  foes  in  possession  of  La  Caroline  ?  This  is  not  the 
least  of  my  dangers.  I  must  preserve  my  force  against  that  doubt ; 
but  keep  them  fresh,  certainly,  and  if  possible  without  diminution, 
so  that  I  may  rescue  Laudonniere  or  sustain  myself.  Besides,  to 
attempt  the  night  march  I  must  leave  these  poor  fellows,  Mercoeur 
and  Dumain,  to  be  scalped  by  the  savages,  or  force  them  forward 
only  that  they  may  drop  by  the  way.  No  !  we  must  take  rest 
ourselves,  and  give  them  all  the  rest  we  can.  We  must  encamp 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  shelter  of  yon  little  bay,  to  which  we 
are  approaching,  seems  to  offer  an  excellent  cover.  "We  will  make 
for  that." 

He  did  as  he  said.  His  camp  was  formed  on  the  edge  of  one 
of  those  basins  which,  in  the  southern  country  is  usually  termed  a 
bay — so  called  in  consequence  of  the  dense  forests  of  the  shrub 
laurel  that  covers  the  region  with  the  most  glistening  green,  and 
fills  the  languid  atmosphere  with  a  most  rich  but  oppressive 
perfume.  Here  he  disposed  his  little  command,  so  that  the  ap- 
proaches were  few  and  such  as  could  be  easily  guarded.  Here  he 
was  secure  from  those  wild  flights  of  arrows  which,  in  a  spot  less 
thickly  wooded,  might  have  been  made  to  annoy  a  company,  dis- 
charged even  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  But  Alphonse 
D'Erlach  had  another  reason  for  selecting  this  as  his  present  place 
of  shelter.  As  soon  as  he  had  taken  care  of  his  wounded  men,  he 
examined  the  munitions  of  all.  He  had  been  sparing  his  powder, 


THE    ADVENTURE    OP    D'ERLACH.  207 

and  lie  was  now  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  quantity  was  quite 
sufficient,  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  warfare  of  that  day, 
to  suffice  for  two  or  more  days  longer.  This  enabled  him  to  devise 
a  project  by  which  to  ensnare  the  savages  to  their  ruin.  Hitherto 
he  had  classed  his  men  in  three  divisions.  The  first  of  these  en- 
countered the  first  onslaught  of  the  enemy,  and  the  second  were 
prepared  for  its  renewal,  while  tlfe  third  was  a  reserve  for  a 
continuance  of  the  struggle,  giving  time  to  the  two  first  divisions 
to  reload.  But  it  had  been  seen,  during  the  day,  that  the  savage-s 
had  made  a  corresponding  division  of  their  force  ; — that  successive 
attacks,  followed  up  with  great  rapidity,  drew  the  fires  of  his 
several  squads,  and  so  well  aware  did  the  assailants  now  appear  to 
be  of  this  practice,  that,  after  the  third  fire,  they  boldly  rushed 
almost  within  striking  distance  of  the  Frenchmen,  hurling  their 
stone  hatchets  with  wonderful  dexterity  and  precision.  To  provide 
for  this  contingency — to  convert  it  to  profitable  results — was  the 
study  of  D'Erlach.  He  felt  that,  but  for  some  stratagem,  it  was 
not  improbable  that  the  whole  party  would  loss  their  scalps  before 
the  closing  of  another  day.  He  had  observed  that  the  bay  in 
which  he  harbored  his  men  contained,  interspersed  with  its  laurels, 
a  perfect  wilderness  of  canes,  the  fluted  reeds  of  the  swamp  and 
morass,  common  to  the  country,  some  of  which  grew  to  be  nearly 
twenty  feet  in  height.  These  were  still  green  in  September,  their 
feathery  tops  waving  to  and  fro  in  every  breeze,  while,  under  the 
pressure  of  the  sudden  gust,  their  shafts,  in  seeming  solid 
phalanx,  laid  themselves  almost  to  the  earth,  to  recover,  like  an 
artful  and  plumed  warrior,  when  the  danger  had  overblown. 
Without  declaring  his  plans,  D'Erlach  had  a  number  of  these 
canes  cut  down  in  secresy,  and  divided  into  sections  of  four  or  five 
feet.  The  extreme  barrel  of  each  of  these  sections  was  filled 


208  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

tightly  with  gunpowder,  and  a  fuse  introduced  at  the  orifice  which 
received  the  powder.  Strips  from  the  shirts  of  his  people  were 
employed  to  bind  the  portion  of  the  reed  thus  filled,  and  two  of 
these  shafts  were  lashed  tightly  to  each  matchlock,  the  charged 
portion  protruding  near  the  muzzle.  He  needed  no  words  to 
explain  his  policy  to  his  people.  They  understood  the  object  in 
beholding  the  process,  and  admired  the  ingenuity  which  promised 
them  hereafter  the  most  signal  advantages. 

Rigid  was  the  watch  maintained  that  night  in  the  camp  of  our 
Frenchmen.  Fortunately,  they  had  obtained  that  day  a  fresh 
supply  of  food  while  passing  through  a  miserable  hamlet,  from 
which  the  occupants  had  fled  at  their  approach.  Their  supper  was 
eaten  in  silence  and  anxiety.  The  watches  throughout  the  night 
were  two,  Le  Genre  taking  the  first,  while  D'Erlach,  from  twelve 
till  daylight,  maintained  the  last.  There  were  no  alarms.  The 
Indians  had  retired,  as  was  conjectured,  to  place  themselves  in 
some  favorite  place  of  ambush  against  the  coming  of  the  French- 
men the  next  day.  One  of  the  two  men  who  had  been  most  se- 
verely wounded  among  the  Frenchmen,  died  that  night  in  great 
agony.  The  arrow  of  the  savage  had  penetrated  to  his  lungs. 
He  had  imprudently  thrown  off  his  coat  of  escaupil,  in  consequence 
of  the  great  heat  of  the  noonday,  and  a  skirmish  took  place  before 
he  could  reclothe  himself,  in  which  he  received  his  hurt.  D'Erlach 
had  the  body  laid  in  the  deepest  portion  of  the  bay,  its  only 
covering  being  a  forest  of  canes,  which  were  cut  down  and  thrown 
over  the  corpse. 

With  the  first  rosy  blush  of  the  dawn,  the  little  troop  was  in 
motion.  At  setting  off  D'Erlach  gave  ample  directions  for  the 
anticipated  conflict.  His  command  was  divided  into  three  com- 
panies. From  the  first  of  these,  three  men  were  commissioned 


THE    ADVENTURE    OP    D'ERLACH.  209 

o  deliver  the  fire  of  their  pieces  on  the  appearance  of  the  In- 
lians.  The  rest  were  to  discharge  one  of  the  two  loaded  sec- 
tions of  cane  attached  to  the  matchlocks.  The  second  and  third 
were  to  do  likewise.  The  effect  of  this  arrangement  would  be  to 
leave  ten  out  of  nineteen  pieces  undischarged,  and  ready  for  fatal 
use  on  the  more  daring  approach  of  the  savages.  Their  prepara- 
tions, and  the  proposed  ruse  were  soon  put  to  proof.  It  was 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  company  was  about 
to  enter  a  defile  which  led  to  an  extensive  tract  of  pines.  At  the 
entrance,  on  each  hand,  stretched  a  morass  that  seemed  intermin- 
able. The  opening  to  the  pine  forest  seemed  a  narrow  gorge,  the 
jaws  of  which  were  densely  occupied  with  a  tangled  thicket  that 
seemed  to  bafHe  approach.  D'Erlach  saw  the  dangers  which 
awaited  him  in  such  a  defile.  His  three  bands  were  made  to 
march  separately  as  they  approached  it,  and  very  slowly.  A 
moderate  interval  lay  between  them,  which  would  enable  them, 
while  an  enemy  could  only  attack  them  singly,  in  turn  to  support 
each  other.  The  judgment  of  our  young  lieutenant  did  not 
deceive  him.  On  each  side  of  this  gorge,  Oolenoe  had  posted 
his  warriors.  They  occupied  the  shelter  of  the  thicket  on  both 
hands.  Their  eagerness  and  impatience,  increased  by  the  slow 
progress  of  the  Frenchmen,  whom  they  regarded  as  only  march- 
ing to  the  slaughter,  lost  them  some  of  the  advantages  of  this 
position.  They  showed  themselves  too  soon.  With  a  horrid 
howl  the  young  warriors  discharged  their  arrows  from  the  covert, 
and  then  boldly  dashed  out  among  the  pines.  The  Frenchmen 
were  nerved  for  the  struggle.  Forewarned,  they  had  been  fore- 
armed. There  was  no  surprise.  Coolly,  the  three  select  men  de- 
livered the  fire  of  their  pieces,  and  each  with  fatal  effect.  In  the 
same  moment  the  charged  barrels  of  the  cane  were  ignited  and 


210  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

torn  asunder  by  an  explosion  which  was  sufficiently  gun-like  to 
deceive  the  unpractised  ear  of  the  Indian.  The  savages  answered 
this  fire  by  a  cloud  of  arrows,  and  began  to  advance.  It  was 
now  that  the  remaining  section  of  the  division,  which  had  re- 
tained their  fire,  delivered  it  with  great  precision  and  an  effect 
similar  to  the  former  ;  those  who  had  emptied  their  pieces  on  the 
previous  occasion,  contenting  themselves  with  discharging  a  cane. 
By  this  time,  the  two  other  divisions,  under  D'Erlach,  had  pushed 
through  the  gorge,  and  were  spreading  themselves  right  and  left, 
among  the  pines,  in  a  situation  to  practice  the  same  game  with 
their  assailants,  which  had  been  played  so  well  by  the  foremost 
party.  We  must  not  follow  the  caprices  of  the  battle.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that,  deceived  by  the  apparent  discharge  of  all  the 
pieces  of  the  Frenchmen,  the  Indians,  headed  by  Oolenoe  him- 
self, dashed  desperately  upon  their  enemies,  and  were  received 
by  the  fatal  fire  from  more  than  a  dozen  guns,  which  sent  their 
foremost  men  headlong  to  the  ground,  the  subtle  chief,  Oolenoe 
himself,  among  them.  At  this  sight,  the  savages  set  up  a  howl 
of  dismay,  and  fled  in  all  directions  ;  while  Oolenoe,  thrice  stag- 
gering to  his  feet,  at  length  sunk  back  upon  the  ground,  writhing 
in  an  agony  which  did  not,  however,  prevent  him,  on  the  approach 
of  D'Erlach,  from  making  a  desperate  effort  to  smite  him  with 
his  stone  hatchet.  His  whole  form  collapsed  with  the  effort, 
and  wrenching  the  rude  but  heavy  implement  from  the  dying 
savage,  the  lieutenant  drove  it  into  his  brain  and  ended  his 
agonies  with  a  single  stroke. 

With  this  adventure,  the  difficulties  of  the  party  ceased.  That 
night  they  reached  the  fortress,  in  season  to  confirm  the  authority 
of  Laudonniere ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  to  assist  in  the  execution 
of  the  mutineers  by  whom  he  had  been  temporarily  overthrown. 


XVI. 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY. 

SUSTAINED  and  reassured  by  the  return  of  his  lieutenant,  Lau- 
donniere,  released  from  his  bonds,  proceeded  to  re-organize  his 
garrison.  He  promoted  those  who  had  proved  faithful  when  all 
threatened  to  be  false,  and  deprived  the  doubtful,  or  the  danger- 
ous, of  all  their  previous  trusts..  To  improve  and  strengthen  his 
forts,  to  build  vessels,  which  were  to  supply  the  places  of  those 
which  the  mutineers  had  taken,  and  others  of  smaller  burthen  for 
the  express  navigation  of  the  river,  were  his  immediate  cares,  in 
all  of  which  his  progress  was  considerable.  During  this  period 
he  lived  on  relations  of  tolerable  amity  with  his  Indian  neighbors. 
Their  little  crops  had,  by  this  time,  been  harvested,  and  they 
were  not  unwilling  to  exchange  their  surplus  productions  for  the 
objects  of  European  manufacture  which  they  coveted.  The  sup- 
plies brought  by  the  red-men  were  "  fish,  deere,  turki-cocks, 
leopards,  little  beares,  and  other  things,  according  to  the  place  of 
their  habitation,"  for  which  they  were  recompensed  with  "  cer- 
taine  hatchets,  knives,  beades  of  glasse,  combs,  and  looking- 
glasses."  The  "  leopards  and  little  beares"  were  probably  wild 
cats  and  raccoons,  or  opossums,  all  of  which  furnished  excellent 
feeding  to  our  hungry  Frenchmen  in  September.  The  wild-cat 


212 


THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


is  usually  a  fat  beast,  differing  very  considerably  from  the  more 
savage  tribes  to  whom  we  liken  him,  the  wolf  and  the  panther  ; 
while  the  opossum  is  probably  the  fattest  of  all  animals  at  seasons 
when  the  forest  mast  is  abundant.  Of  the  quality  of  the  meat 
,ve  will  say  nothing.  To  those  with  whom  the  appetite  has  been 
nade  properly  subservient  to  the  taste,  and  who  suffer  from  no 
leeessitieSj  his  flavor  is  scarcely  such  as  legitimates  his  admission 
into  the  kitchen.  But  the  case  is  far  otherwise  with  those  inferior 
tribes  with  whom  the  appetites  are  coarse  and  eager.  The  negro 
is  seldom  so  well  satisfied  as  when  he  feeds  on  'possum.  "  'Pos- 
sum," is  the  common  remark  among  this  people,  "  'possum  heap 
better  than  pig  !"  To  those  who  know  how  high  is  the  estimate 
which  the  negro  sets  upon  the  pig  family — an  estimate  which  is 
the  occasion  of  an  epidemic  under  which  a  fat  pig,  straying  into 
the  woods  in  June  and  July,  is  sure  to  perish — the  compliment  is 
inappreciable. 

Thus,  feeding  well,  with  his  health  and  self-esteem  gradually 
recovering,  Laudonniere  began  to  resume  his  explorations,  and  to 
cast  his  eyes  about  him  with  his  old  desire  for  precious  discoveries 
It  was  about  this  time  that  he  was  visited  by  a  couple  of  savages 
from  the  dominions  of  King  Maracou.  This  potentate  dwelt 
some  forty  leagues  to  the  south  of  La  Caroline.  The  Indians, 
among  other  matters,  related  to  Laudonniere  that,  in  the  service 
of  another  native  monarch  named  Onathaqua,  there  was  a  man 
whom  they  called  "  Barbu,  or  the  bearded  man,"  who  was  not  of 
the  people  of  the  country.  Another  foreigner,  whose  name  they 
knew  not,  was  said  to  inhabit  the  house  of  King  Mathiaca,  a 
forest  chieftain,  whose  tribes  occupied  a  contiguous  region.  From 
the  descriptions  thus  given  him,  Laudonniere  readily  conceived 
that  these  strange  men  were  Christians.  He  accordingly  opened 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  213 

a  communication  with  the  tribes  by  which  the  intermediate 
country  was  occupied,  and  under  the  stimulus  of  a  liberal 
recompense,  promised  them  in  European  goods,  the  two  strangers 
were  brought  in  safety  to  La  Caroline.  The  conjecture  of 
Laudonniere  proved  rightly  founded.  They  were  white  men  and 
Christians — Spaniards  who  had  suffered  shipwreck  some  fifteen 
years  before,  upon  the  flats  called  "  The  Martyrs,"  and 
over  and  against  that  region  of  the  country,  which  at  this 
period  was  called  Calos — from  a  great  native  prince  of  that 
name.*  This  savage  repaired  to  the  wreck,  and  carried  off  into 
captivity  its  crew  and  passengers.  Many  of  these  were  women x 
who  became  the  wives  of  their  conquerors.  The  king  of  Calos, 
whom  a  Spaniard  described  as  the  "  goodliest  and  the  tallest 
Indian  of  the  country,  a  mighty  man,  a  warrior,  and  having  many 
subjects  under  his  obedience,"  not  only  saved  the  Europeans 
from  their  wreck,  but,  by  diligent  and  indefatigable  perseverance, 
rescued  most  of  the  treasure  that  was  in  the  vessel ;  the  wealth 
which  had  been  gleaned  with  unsparing  cruelties  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  in  Peru  and  Mexico.  The  treasures  thus  obtained 
by  King  Calos,  were  represented  to  be  of  almost  limitless  value. 
"  He  had  great  store  of  golde  and  silver,  so  farre  forth  that,  in  a 
ccrtaine  village,  he  had  a  pit  full  thereof,  which  was  at  the  least 
as  high  as  a  man,  and  as  large  a^  a  tunne."  According  to  our 
Spaniards,  it  might  be  easy,  "  with  an  hundred  shot,"  to  obtain  all 
this  spoil ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  scattered  treasures  which  might 
be  gleaned  from  the  common  people  of  the  country.  That  the  ex- 
tent of  their  resources  might  not  be  under-valued,  the  captive  Chris- 

*  "  Ces  Calos  ou  Carlos,  sont  anthropophages,  et  fort  cruel,  ils  demeur- 
ent  dans  une  13aye,  qui  porte  e'galement  leur  nom,  et  celui  de  Ponce  de 
Leon."— CHARLEVOIX. 


214  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM, 

tians  farther  informed  him,  that  the  young  women  of  the  coun 
try,  when  engaged  in  their  primitive  dances,  assembled  to  their 
festivities  in  a  glorious  costume,  such  as  would  be  an  irresistible 
charm  in  any  European  assembly.  They  were  not  only  lovely 
in  themselves,  with  their  dark  beauties  partially  unfolded  to  the 
gaze,  and  the  tawny  hues  enlivened  by  the  warm  lustre  of  the 
sun,  shining  in  crimson  flushes  through  the  prevailing  hue  of  the 
complexion,  but  they  wore,  suspended  from  their  girdles,  plates 
of  gold,  large  as  a  saucer,  the  number  and  weight  of  which 
would  have  totally  impeded  the  action  as  well  as  agility  of  any 
but  a  people  so  exquisitely  and  vigorously  proportioned.  The 
men  wore  similar  decorations,  though  not  perhaps  in  such  great 
profusion.  This  gold,  according  to  their  account,  was  derived 
chiefly  from  vessels  cast  away — the  coasts  of  the  territory  of 
King  Calos  being  particularly  treacherous,  and  their  secret,  lurk- 
ing shoals  frequently  rising  up  suddenly  to  rob  the  king  of  Spain 
of  his  hardly-won  ingots.  The  residue  of  his  wealth  in  the  pre- 
cious metals,  King  Calos  derived  from  the  kings  and  chiefs  of  the 
interior.  Perhaps  more  of  it  was  obtained  in  this  way  than  our 
Spaniards  knew.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  mines  of 
the  great  Apalachian  ranges  were  explored,  however  imperfectly, 
by  the  red-men  of  the  country,  following,  in  alt  probability,  some 
superior  races,  who  first  taught  ^hem  where  to  look,  and  of  whom 
we  have  now  but  the  most  imperfect  vestiges. 

Among  the  articles  of  traffic,  which  the  people  of  Calos  sold  to 
the  interior  tribes,  was  a  domestic  root,  constituting  a  favorite 
bread-stuff  which  was  particularly  grateful  to  the  palates  of  their 
people.  This  is  described  as  forming  a  fine  flour,  than  which  it 
it  is  impossible  to  find  better,  and  as  supplying  the  wants  of  an 
immense  tract  of  country.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  breadstuff 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  215 

known  as  coonti  in  modern  periods.  This,  and  a  species  of  date, 
taken  from  a  sort  of  palm  tree — the  persimmon  probably — were 
commodities  in  which  they  dealt  to  great  extent.  Of  the  root 
from  which  they  made  their  favorite  breadstuff,  it  is  written,  that 
the  proprietors  were  very  slow  to  part  with,  unless  well  paid  for 
it.  The  people  of  King  Calos  are  probably  to  be  traced  through 
a  thousand  fluctuations  of  place,  character  and  fortune,  to  the 
Seminoles  of  recent  periods — a  like  people,  living  in  the  same 
region,  and  rejoicing  in  the  same  fruits  and  freedom. 

Of  this  King  Calos,  the  narrative  of  our  Spaniards  goes  farther, 
passing  finally  into  the  province  of  the  miraculous.  He  is  describ- 
ed as  a  prince  held  in  special  reverence  by  his  subjects  ; — not  sim- 
ply for  his  valor  as  a  soldier,  or  his  wisdom  as  a  ruler,  but  his 
wondrous  powers  as  a  magician.  He  seems  to  have  combined  the 
civil  and  the  religious  powers  of  the  nation — to  have  been  priest 
and  prophet  as  well  as  Governor.  The  government  of  his  coun- 
try, like  that  of  simple  nations  generally,  was  theocratic  and  pa- 
triarchal. His  people  were  taught  to  believe  that  it  was  through 
his  spells  and  incantations,  that,,  the  earth  brought  forth  her 
fruits.  He  resorted  to  various  arts  to  perpetuate  this  faith,  and 
various  cruelties  to  subdue  and  punish  that  spirit  of  inquiry  which 
might  test  too  closely  the  propriety  of  his  spiritual  claims. 
Twice  a  year  he  retired  from  the  sight  of  all  his  subjects,  two  or 
three  of  his  friends  alone  excepted,  and  was  supposed,  at  this  sea- 
son, to  be  busy  with  his  mighty  sorceries.  Woe  to  the  unlucky 
wretch  who,  whether  purposely  or  by  accident,  intruded  upon  his 
mysteries.  The  dwelling  to  which  he  had  resort  was  tabooed  on 
every  hand ;  and  death,  with  the  most  fearful  penalties,  stooc 
warningly  at  all  the  avenues  by  which  it  was  approached.  Each 
year  a  prisoner  was  sacrificed  to  the  savage  god  he  served ;  and 


216  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

this  prisoner,  so  long  as  Barbu  had  been  a  captive,  had  been  a 
Spaniard  always — the  supply  being  sufficient,  from  the  frequency 
of  wrecks  upon  the  coast,  by  which  an  adequate  number  of  captives 
was  always  to  be  had.  The  dominions  of  Calos  are  described  as 
lying  along  a  river,  beyond  the  cape  of  Florida,  forty  or  fifty  leagues 
towards  the  southwest ;  while  those  of  Onathaqua  were  nearer  to 
La  Caroline,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  cape,  "  in  a  place  which 
we  call  in  the  chart,  Cannaverel,  which  is  in  28  degreees." 

When  the  two  Spaniards  were  brought  before  Laudonniere  they 
were  entirely  naked.  Their  hair  hung  below  their  loins,  as  did 
that  of  the  savages ;  and  so  completely  had  they  become  ac- 
customed to  the  habits  of  the  red-men,  that  the  resumption  of  the 
costume  of  civilization  was  not  only  strange  but  irksome.  But 
Laudonniere  was  not  disposed  to  permit  their  acquired  habits  to 
supersede  those  of  their  origin.  He  caused  the  hair  of  his  newly- 
found  Christians  to  be  shorn,  as  heedless  of  the  loss  of  strength 
which  might  follow  as  ever  was  Dalilah  while  docking  the  long 
locks  of  her  giant  lover.  It  was  with  great  reluctance  that  the 
wild  men  submitted  to  this  shearing.  When  the  hair  was  finally 
taken  off  they  insisted  upon  preserving  it,  and  rolling  it  in  linen 
put  it  away  carefully,  to  be  shown  in  Europe  as  a  proof  of  their 
wild  and  cruel  experience.  In  removing  the  shock  from  one  of 
them,  a  little  treasure  of  gold  was  found  hidden  in  its  masses,  to 
the  value  of  five-and-twenty  crowns,  by  which  the  Spaniard 
conclusively  proved  that  one  portion  of  his  Spanish  education  had 
never  deserted  him.  What  a  commentary  upon  the  wisdom  of 
civilization,  that,  in  such  a  state,  with  such  bonds,  after  such 
losses,  of  freedom,  position,  and  the  society  of  all  the  well-beloved 
and  equal,  his  heart  should  still  yearn  for  the  keeping  of  a  trea- 
sure which  must,  at  every  moment,  have  only  served  to  mock 


HISTORICAL   SUMMARY.  217 

the  possessor  with  the  dearer  treasures  of  home,  country,  friends, 
religion,  of  which  his  fortunes  had  made  utter  forfeit.  But  let  ua 
pasa  to  the  narrative  of  Barbu,  himself — one  of  the  recovered 
Spaniards — which  we  owe,  in  some  degree  to  history,  but  mostly 
to  tradition. 

10 


XVII. 


THE    NARRATIVE    OF    LE    BARBU: 

THE  BEARDED  MAN  OF  CALOS. 

Now  when  Barbu,  the  bearded  man,  who  had  been  dwelling 
among  the  people  of  Calos,had  been  shorn  of  the  long  and  matted 
hair  and  beard,  which  had  made  him  much  more  fearful  to  the 
eye  than  any  among  the  savages  themselves, — and  when  our  right 
worthy  captain  had  commanded  that  we  should  bathe  and  cleanse 
him,  and  had  given  him  shirts  of  fine  linen  and  clothes  from  his  own 
wardrobe,  so  that  he  should  once  more  appear  like  a  Christian  man 
among  his  kindred, — albeit  he  seemed  to  be  greatly  disquieted,  and 
exceedingly  awkward  therein, — then  did  he  conduct  him  into  the 
corps  de  garde,  where  our  people  were  all  bidden  to  assemble. 
There,  being  seated  all,  Barbu,  the  Spaniard,  being  entreated  thereto 
by  our  right  worthy  captain,  proceeded  to  unfold  the  full  relation  of 
the  grievous  strait  and  peril  by  which  he  had  fallen  into  the  power 
of  King  Calos,  and  of  what  happened  to  him  thereafter.  And  it 
was  curious  to  see  how  that  he,  a  Spaniard  born,  and  not  ill- 
educated  in  one  of  the  goodly  towns  of  old  Spain,  in  all  gentle 
learning,  should,  in  the  space  of  fifteen  years  sojourn  among  the 
savages,  have  so  greatly  suffered  the  loss  of  his  native  tongue. 
Slow  was  he  of  speech,  and  greatly  minded  to  piece  out  with  the 


THE  NARRATIVE  OF  LE  BARBU.  219 

Indian  language  the  many  words  in  which  the  memory  of  his  own 
had  failed  him.  Well  was  it  for  our  understanding  of  what  he 
delivered,  that  so  many  of  us  had  been  dwelling  among  the  red- 
men  at  other  times, — to  speak  nothing  of  Monsieur  D'Erlach, 
Monsieur  Ottigny,  both  lieutenants  in  the  garrison,  and  Monsieur 
La  Roche  Ferriere,  who,  with  another,  by  special  commandment 
of  our  captain,  had  dwelt  for  a  matter  of  several  months  among 
the  people  of  King  Olata  Utina.  By  means  of  the  help  brought 
by  these,  we  were  enabled  to  find  the  meaning  of  those  words  in 
which  Barbu  failed  in  his  Spanish.  So  it  was  that  we  followed 
the  fortunes  of  the  bearded  man,  according  to  the  narrative  as  here 
set  down. 


Then,  at  the  repeated  entreaty  of  Monsieur  Laudonniere, 
Barbu  arose  and  spoke  : 

"  First,  Senor  Captain,  I  have  to  declare  how  much  I  thank 
you  for  the  protection  you  have  given  me,  the  kindness  which  has 
clad  me  once  more  in  Christian  garments,  and  the  cost  and  travail 
with  which  you  have  recovered  me  from  my  bonds  among  the 
heathen.  Albeit,  that  I  feel  strangely  in  these  new  habits,  and 
that  my  native  tongue  comes  back  to  me  slowly  when  I  would 
speak  from  a  full  and  overflowing  heart,  yet  will  I  strive  to  make 
you  sensible  of  all  the  facts  in  my  sad  history,  and  of  the  great 
gratitude  which  I  feel  for  those  by  whose  benevolence  I  may  fondly 
hope  that  my  troubles  are  about  to  end.  I  know  not  now  the  day 
or  season  when  we  left  the  port  of  Nombre  de  Dios,  in  an  excellent 
ship,  well  filled  with  treasures  of  the  mine,  and  a  goodly  company, 
on  our  return  to  the  land  of  our  fathers  beyond  the  sea.  My  own 
share  in  the  wealth  of  this  vessel  was  considerable,  and  I  had 
other  treasures  in  the  person  of  a  dear  brother,  and  a  sister  who 


220  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

accompanied  us.  Our  sister  was  married  to  one  who  was  with  us 
also,  and  the  united  wealth  of  the  three,  such  was  our  fond  ex- 
pectations, would  enable  us  to  retire  to  our  native  town  of  Burgos, 
and  commend  us  to  the  favor  of  our  people.  But  it  was  written 
that  we  should  not  realize  these  blessed  expectations,  and  that  I 
alone,  of  the  four,  should  be  again  permitted  to  dwell  among  a 
Christian  people.  Yet  I  give  not  up  the  hope  that  I  shall  yet 
see  my  brother,  who  was  carried  away  among  the  Indians  of  the 
far  west,  when  we  were  scattered  among  the  tribes,  in  the 
grand  division  of  our  captives.  But  this  part  of  my  story  comes 
properly  hereafter. 

"  We  put  to  sea  from  the  port  of  Nombre  de  Dios  with 
very  favoring  winds  ;  but  these  lasted  us  not  long,  ere  they 
came  out  from  all  quarters  of  the  heavens,  and  we  ran  before  the 
storm  under  a  rag  of  sail,  without  knowing  in  what  course 
we  sped.  Thus,  for  three  days,  we  were  driven  before  the  baffling 
winds ;  and  when  the  storm  lulled,  the  clouds  still  hung  about  us, 
and  our  pilot  wot  nothing  of  that  part  of  the  sea  in  which  we 
went.  Two  days  more  followed,  and  still  we  were  saddened 
by  the  clouds  that  kept  evermore  coming  down  from  hea- 
ven, and  brooding  upon  the  deep  like  great  fogs  that  gather  in 
the  morn  among  the  mountains.  Thus  we  sped,  weary  and  de- 
sponding as  we  were,  without  any  certainty  as  to  the  course  we 
kept,  or  the  region  of  space  or  country  round  about  us.  Mean- 
while, the  seams  of  our  vessel  began  to  yawn,  and  great  was  the 
labor  which  followed,  to  all  hands,  to  keep  her  clear  of  water. 
This  we  did  not  wholly ;  and  it  was  in  vain  that  our  carpenter 
sought  for,  in  order  to  stop,  the  leak.  Thus,  weary  and  sad,  we 
continued  still  sweeping  forward  slowly,  looking  anxiously,  with 
many  prayers,  for  the  sun  by  day  and  the  moon  and  stars  by 


THE  ADVENTURE  OP  LE  BARBU.  221 

night.  But  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  implored  in  vain.  We  had 
offended.  There  was  treasure  on  board  the  vessel,  but  it  was 
stained  with  blood.  You  have  not  heard  in  your  histories  of  the 
bloody  Juan  de  Mores  y  Silva,  who  tortured  the  unhappy 
Mexicans  by  fire,  even  in  the  caverns  where  they  resided,  seeking 
the  gold,  which  they  gained  not  sufficiently  soon,  or  in  sufficient 
quantity, to  satisfy  his  cruel  lust  for.  wealth.  He  was  one  of  our 
companions  on  this  voyage,  bound  homewards  with  an  immense 
subsidy  in  ingots — huge  chests  of  gold  and  silver — with  which  he 
aimed  to  swell  into  grandeur  with  new  titles,  when  he  arrived  in 
Spain.  But  the  just  Providence  willed  it  otherwise.  He  was, 
doubtless,  the  Jonah  in  our  vessel,  who  fought  against  the  prayers 
for  mercy  and  protection  which  the  true  believers  addressed  to 
the  Holy  Virgin  in  our  behalf." 

Here  our  captain,  Laudonniere,  interrupted  Barbu,  and  said — 

"  Verily,  Senor  Spaniard,  had  thy  prayer  been  addressed  to 
God  himself,  the  Father,  through  the  intervention  and  the  media- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Saviour,  his  Son,  whose  blood  was  shed  for  sin- 
ners, it  might  have  better  profited  thy  case.  Thy  prayers  to  the 
Virgin  were  an  unseemly  elevation  of  a  mortal  woman  over  the 
divinity  of  the  Godhead.  But  I  will  not  vex  thee  with  disputa- 
tion. Thou  art  a  Christian,  though  it  is  after  a  fashion  which,  to 
me  seems  scarcely  more  becoming  than  that  of  these  poor  savages 
of  Calos,  who  yield  faith,  as  thou  tellest  me,  to  the  spells  and 
enchantments  of  their  bloody  sovereign.  But,  proceed  with  thy 
story,  which  I  shall  be  slow  to  break  in  upon  again  until  thou  art 
well  ended." 

With  the  permission  thus  vouchsafed  him,  Barbu,  the  bearded 
man,  thus  resumed  his  discourse : 

"  We  plead  for  the  interposition  of  the  Virgin,  Monsieur   le 


222  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Capitaine,  not  as  we  deem  her  the  source  of  power  and  of  mercy, 
but  as  we  hold  it  irreverent  to  rush  even  with  our  prayers  to  the 
feet  of  the  awful  Father  himself ;  and  rejoice  to  believe  that  she 
who  was  specially  chosen,  as  one  who"  should  bear  the  burden  of 
the  Saviour-child,  was  of  a  spirit  properly  sanctified  and  pure  for 
such  purposes  of  interposition.  But,  as  thou  sayest,  we  will  leave 
this  matter.  If  we  offend  in  our  rites  and  offices,  it  is  because 
we  err  in  judgment,  and  not  that  our  hearts  wish  to  afflict  the 
feelings  or  the  thoughts  of  those  who  see  with  other  eyes 
the  truth.  Besides,  my  long  and  outlandish  abode  among  the 
red-men,  might  well  excuse  me  many  errors." 

"  And  so,  indeed,  it  might,  Seiior  Spaniard,"  said  Laudonniere 
graciously ;  then,  as  the  latter  remained  silent,  Barbu  continued : 

"  Doubtless,  Seftor,  as  I  said  before,  the  bloody  Juan  de  Mores 
y  Silva,  was  the  Jonah  of  our  vessel,  on  whose  account  the 
Blessed  Providence  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  our  prayers  and  entrea- 
ties. It  was  not  decreed  that  he  should  escape  to  rejoice  in  his 
ill-gotten  treasure  ;  and  his  fortunes  were  so  mixed  up  with  ours, 
that  the  overthrow  of  one  was  necessarily  at  the  grievous  loss  and 
peril  of  us  all.  How  many  days  we  lay  tossing  on  the  tumultuous 
waves,  or  swept  to  and  fro,  beaten  and  sore  distressed  by  the  vio- 
lent and  changeful  winds,  I  do  not  now  remember,  but  it  was  in 
very  sickness  and  hopelessness  of  heart,  that  we  lay  down  at  night 
as  one  lies  down  and  submits  to  a  power  with  which  he  feels  him- 
self wholly  powerless  to  contend.  Thus  did  we  cast  ourselves 
down — as  the  dreary  shades  of  night  came  over  us,  with  a  deeper 
and  drearier  cloud  than  ever, — not  seeking  sleep,  but  seized  upon  by 
it,  as  it  were,  to  save  us  from  the  suffering,  akin  to  madness,  which 
must  haply  follow  upon  our  fearful  waking  thoughts.  While  we  slept, 
our  vessel  struck  upon  the  low  flats  of  the  Martyrs  —  those  shoals 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  223 

which  have  laid  bare  the  ribs  of  so  many  goodly  and  gold-laden 
ships  of  my  countrymen,  sucking  down  their  brave  hearts  and  all 
their  treasures  in  the  deep.  We  were  lifted  high  by  the  surges, 
and  rested,  beyond  recovery,  upon  the  shoals,  from  which  the  re- 
morseless seas  refused  again  to  lift  us  off.  Our  vessel  lay  upon 
one  side,  and  the  greedy  waves  rushed  into  her  hold.  We  were 
stunned  rather  than  awakened  by  the  shock.  We  strove  not  for 
safety  or  repair.  How  many  perished  in  the  moment  when  the 
ship  fell  over  I  know  not,  but  one  of  these  was  the  husband  of  my 
sister.  He  was  drowned  in  the  first  rush  of  the  billows  into  the 
ship,  though,  as  it  was  night,  we  knew  it  not.  My  sister  had 
thrown  herself  beside  my  brother,  and  was  sleeping  upon  his  arm. 
She  was  the  first  to  learn  her  misfortune,  awaking,  as  she  averred, 
to  hear  the  faint  cries  of  her  lord  for  succor,  though  she  knew  not 
whence  the  sounds  arose.  When  our  eyes  opened  upon  the  scene, 
strange  to  say,  the  clouds  had  disappeared.  The  dark  waves 
of  the  tempest  had  sped  away  to  other  regions.  A  gentle 
breeze  from  the  land  had  arisen,  full  of  sweet  fragrance  and  a 
healing  freshness,  and,  bright  over  head,  in  the  blessed  heavens, 
blossomed  fresh  the  eternal  host  of  the  stars.  Oh  !  the  life  and 
soothing  in  that  smile  of  God.  But  we  were  not  strong  for  the 
blessing,  nor  sufficiently  grateful  that  life  was  still  vouchsafed  us. 
The  day  dawned  upon  us  to  increase  our  wretchedness.  It  left 
us  without  hope.  Our  food  was  ruined  by  the  waves  that  filled 
the  vessel,  and  though  the  land  was  spread  before  us  in  a  length- 
ened stripe,  bearing  forests  which  were  surely  full  of  fragrance, 
we  beheld  not  the  means  by  which  we  should  gain  its  pleasant 
shores  with  safety.  Our  boats  had  perished  in  the  surf ;  one  of 
them  stove  to  pieces,  and  the  other  swept  away.  In  our  despon- 
dency and  our  sleep  we  had  yielded  our  courage  and  our  provi- 


224  THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM. 

dence,  and  we  lay  now  in  the  sight  of  heaven,  amidst  the  equal 
fealm  of  sea  and  sky,  with  the  land  spreading  lovelily  before  us, 
yet  could  we  do  nothing  for  ourselves.  We  lay  without  food  or 
drink  all  day,  seeing  nothing  but  the  bare  skies,  the  sea,  and  the 
shore,  which  only  mocked  our  eyes.  My  sister  sorrowed  and 
sickened  in  my  arms.  She  cried  for  water  as  one  cries  in  the 
delirious  agonies  of  fever.  She  would  drink  of  the  water  of  the 
deep,  but  this  we  denied  her ;  and  the  day  sunk  again,  and  with  it 
her  hope  and  strength.  With  the  increase  of  the  winds  that 
night,  she  grew  delirious  ;  and,  when  we  knew  not — and  this  was 
Strange,  for  I  cannot  believe  that  I  closed  mine  eyes  that  night — 
she  disappeared.  Once,  it  seemed  that  I  heard  her  voice,  in  a 
wild  scream,  calling  me  by  name,  and  I  started  forward  to  feel 
that  she  was  gone.  She  left  my  arms  while  I  lay  insensible.  It 
was  not  sleep.  It  was  stupor.  My  consciousness  was  drowned 
in  my  great  grief,  and  in  the  exhaustion  of  all  my  strength  for 
lack  of  food. 

"  My  brother  and  myself  alone  survived  of  all  our  family. 
With  the  knowledge  that  our  sister  was  really  gone — swallowed 
up,  doubtless,  in  the  remorseless  deep,  into  which  she  had  darted 
in  her  delirium — we  came  to  a  full  consciousness.  Then,  when 
it  was  only  misery  to  know,  we  were  permitted  to  know  all,  and 
to  feel  the  whole  terrible  truth  pressing  upon  us,  that  we  were 
alone  in  that  dreary  world  of  sea.  Not  alone  of  our  company  ; 
only  of  our  people.  Many  there  were  who  still  kept  in  life, 
watchful  but  hopeless.  We  could  see  their  dusky  forms  by  the 
faint  light  of  the  stars,  crouching  along  the  slanting  plane  of  the 
vessel,  upon  which,  by  cord,  and  sail,  and  spar,  we  still  contrived 
to  maintain  foothold  ;  and,  anon,  our  company  would  lessen. 
The  solemn  silence  of  all  things,  except  the  dash  of  the  waves 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  225 

against  us,  rolling  up  with  murmurs,  and  breaking  away  in  wrath, 
was  interrupted  only  by  a  sullen  plunge,  ever  and  anon,  into  the 
engulphing  deep,  as  the  hope  went  out  utterly  in  the  heart  of  the 
victim,  and  he  yielded  to  death,  rather  than  prolong  the  wretched 
endurance  of  a  life  so  full  of  misery. 

"  Thus  the  night  passed ;  not  without  other  signs  to  cheer  as 
well  as  startle  us.  Through  the  darkness  we  could  see  lights  in 
the  direction  of  the  shore,  as  if  borne  by  human  hands.  With 
the  dawn  of  day,  our  eyes  were  turned  eagerly  in  that  direction. 
Nor  did  we  look  in  vain.  The  shore  swarmed  with  human  forms. 
A  hundred  canoes  were  already  darting  along  the  margin  of  the 
great  deep,  and  evident  were  the  preparations  of  the  people  of 
this  wild  region,  to  visit  our  stranded  vessel.  In  a  little  time 
they  came.  Their  canoes  were  some  of  them  large  enough  to 
carry  forty  warriors,  though  made  from  a  single  tree.  They 
came  to  us  in  order  of  battle ;  a  hundred  boats,  holding  each 
from  ten  to  fifty  warriors.  These  carried  spear  and  shield,  huge 
lances,  and  well-curved  bows,  drawn  with  powerful  sinews  of  the 
deer.  Their  arrows  were  long  shafts  of  the  feathery  reed,  such 
as  flourish  in  all  these  forests.  The  feather  from  the  eagle's  wing 
gave  it  buoyancy,  and  the  end  of  the  shaft  was  barbed  with  a 
keen  flint,  wrought  by  art  to  an  edge  such  as  our  best  workmen 
give  to  steel.  Many  were  the  chief  men  among  these  warriors, 
who  approached  us  in  full  panoply  of  barbaric  pomp.  Turbans 
of  white  and  crimson-stained  cotton,  such  as  the  Turk  is  shown 
to  wear,  though  folded  in  a  still  nobler  fashion,  were  wrapped 
about  their  heads,  over  which  shook  bunches  of  plumes  taken 
from  the  paroquet,  the  crane,  and  the  eagle.  Robes  of  cotton, 
white,  or  crimson,  or  scarlet,  colored  with  native  dies  of  the 
forest,  clothed  their  loins,  and  fell  flowing  from  their  shoulders  ; 
10* 


226  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

and,  ever  and  anon,  as  they  came,  they  shook  a  thousand  gourds 
which  they  had  made  to  rattle  with  little  pebbles,  which,  with  their 
huge  drum,  wrought  of  the  mammoth  gourd,  and  covered  with 
raw  deer  skin,  made  a  clamor  most  astounding  to  our  hapless 
ears.  Thus  they  hailed  our  vessel,  making  it  appear  as  if  they 
intended  to  have  fought  us  ;  but  when  they  beheld  how  famishing 
we  lay  before  them,  with  scarcely  strength  and  courage  enough  to 
plead  for  mercy — speaking  only  through  our  dry  and  scalded  eyes, 
and  by  clasping  our  hard  and  weary  hands  together — then  it 
seemed  as  if  they  at  once  understood  and  felt  for  us ;  and  they 
drew  nigh  with  their  canoes,  and  lowered  their  weapons,  and 
darting  with  lithe  sinews  upon  the  sides  of  our  leaning  vessel, 
they  held  gourds  of  water  to  our  lips,  which  cheered  us  while  we 
swallowed,  as  with  the  sense  of  a  fresh  existence. 

"  Thus  were  we  rescued  from  the  yawning  deep.  The  savages 
took  us,  with  a  rough  kindness,  from  the  wreck.  They  carried 
us  in  their  canoes  to  the  shore  ;  and  several  were  the  sur- 
vivors, as  well  women  as  men.  They  gave  us  food  and 
nourishment,  and  when  we  were  refreshed  and  strengthened,  they 
separated  us  from  our  comrades,  sharing  us  among  our  captors, 
each  according  to  his  rank,  his  power,  or  his  favor  with  his  sove- 
reign. Seventeen  of  our  poor  Christians  were  thus  scattered 
among  the  tribes  and  over  the  territories  of  the  king  of  Calos. 
Some  were  kept  in  his  household ;  but  my  hapless  brother  was 
not  among  them.  He  was  given  to  a  chief  of  the  far  tribes  of 
the  West,  who  made  instant  preparation  to  depart  with  him. 
When  they  would  have  borne  us  apart,  with  a  swift  bound  and  a 
common  instinct,  we  buried  ourselves  in  a  mutual  embrace.  The 
chiefs  looked  on  with  a  laugh  that  made  us  shudder  ;  while  he  to 
whom  my  brother  was  given,  with  a  savage  growl,  thrust  his  hands 


THE    ADVENTURE    OF    LE    BARBU.  227 

into  the  flowing  locks  of  my  brother,  and  hurled  him  away  to  the 
grasp  of  those  who  stood  in  waiting  for  the  captive.  He  struggled 
once  more  to  embrace  me,  and  long  after  I  could  hear  his  cry — 
4  Brother,  brother,  shall  we  see  each  other  never  more  !'  They 
heeded  not  his  cries  or  struggles,  or  mine.  They  threw  him  to 
the  ground  with  violence,  bound  him  hand  and  foot,  with  gyves  of 
the  forest,  and  placing  him  in  one  of  their  great  canoes,  they  sped 
away  with  him  along  the  shores,  as  they  treaded  to  &e  mighty 
West,  where  roll  the  great  waters  of  the  Mechachebe. 

"  Thus  was  I  separated  from  my  only  surviving  kinsman  ;  and 
neither  of  us  could  tell  the  fate  which  was  in  waiting  for  the 
other.  Verily,  then  did  I  look  to  find  the  worst.  I  no  longer 
had  a  hope.  It  is  my  shame,  as  a  Christian,  that,  in  that  desolate 
moment,  I  ceased  to  have  a  fear.  I  not  only  expected  death, 
but  I  longed  for  it.  I  could  have  kissed  the  friendly  hand  that 
had  driven  the  heavy  stone  hatchet  of  the  savage  into  my  brain. 
But,  the  Blessed  Mother  of  Grod  be  praised,  I  thought  not,  in  my 
despair,  to  do  violence  to  my  own  self.  That  sin  was  spared  me 
among  my  many  sins,  in  that  hour  of  despondency  and  woe  ;  and 
all  my  crime  consisted  in  the  criminal  indifference  which  made 
me  too  little  heedful  to  preserve  life.  But  this  indifference  lasted 
not  long.  I  was  the  captive  of  the  king  of  Calos  himself.  Nine 
others  were  kept  by  him  including  me,  and  among  these  was  the 
cruel  tyrant  upon  whose  head  lay  the  blood  of  so  many  of  the 
wretched  people  of  Mexico,  Don  Juan  de  Mores  y  Silva.  He 
was  the  tyrant  no  longer.  All  his  strength  and  courage  had  de- 
parted in  his  afflictions  ;  and  in  the  hour  of  our  despair  and  terror, 
he  was  feebler  than  the  meanest  among  us ;  feebler  of  soul  than 
the  girl  whose  heart  beats  with  the  dread  that  she  cannot  name, 
fearfully,  as  that  of  the  little  bird  which  you  cover  with  your 


228  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

hand.  We  loathed  him  the  worse  for  his  miserable  fear  ;  and  it 
made  us  all  more  resolute  in  courage  to  see  one  so  cast  down  with 
his  terrors,  whom  we  had  seen  of  late  so  insolent  in  his  triumphs. 

"  When  the  lots  were  determined,  the  king  of  Calos  drew  nigh  to 
examine  us  more  needfully.  He  had  not  before  regarded  us  with 
any  consideration.  Verily,  he  was  a  noble  savage  to  the  eye. 
His  person  was  tall,  like  one  of  the  sons  of  Anak,  and  his  car- 
riage was  that  of  a  great  warrior,  born  a  prince,  to  whom  it  was 
natural  equally  to  conquer  and  to  rule.  Rich  were  the  garments 
of  flowing  cotton  which  he  wore  loosely,  like  a  robe,  mostly  white, 
but  with  broad  stains  of  crimson  about  the  skirts  and  shoulders. 

"  A  great  baldrick  hung  suspended  at  his  back,  which  bore  a 
quiver,  made  of  the  skin  of  the  rattle-snake,  filled  with  arrows, 
each  shaft  better  than  a  cloth-yard's  length.  The  macana  which 
he  carried  in  his  grasp,  was  a  mighty  club  of  hard  wood,  close  in 
grain,  and  weighty  as  stone,  which,  save  at  the  grasp  or  handle, 
was  studded  with  sharp  blades  of  flint,  which  resembled  it  to  the 
mighty  blade  of  the  sword-fish.  With  this  weapon  mine  eyes 
have  seen  him  smite  down  two  powerful  enemies  at  a  single 
stroke.  Great  was  his  forehead  and  high,  and  his  cheek  bones 
stood  forth  like  knots  upon  his  face,  as  if  the  cheeks  were 
guarded  by  a  shield.  Black  was  his  piercing  eye,  which  grew 
red  and  fiery  when  he  was  angered  ;  and,  at  such  seasons,  it  was 
easier  for  him  to  smite  than  to  speak.  Unlike  his  people,  he 
wore  the  natural  growth  of  his  hair,  long  and  flowing  straight 
adown  his  back,  glossy  with  its  original  blackness,  and  with  the 
oil  of  the  bear,  of  which,  like  all  his  people,  the  lord  of  Calos 
made  plentiful  use.  This  king  might  be  full  forty  years  of  age. 
Yet  looked  he  neither  young  nor  old — neither  so  young  that  you 
might  not  hold  him  the  gravest  and  best  counsellor  of  wisdom  in 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  229 

the  land,  nor  so  old,  but  that  he  might  better  and  more  ingeniously 
lead  in  battle  than  any  of  his  warriors.  Certes,  he  was  the  most 
ready  first  to  march  when  the  invasion  of  the  distant  tribes  had 
been  resolved  on ;  and,of  a  truth,  never  was  statesman  in  the 
great  courts  of  Europe — not  the  counsellors  of  the  great  Carlos 
himself — so  cool  in  speculation,  so  just  in  judgment,  so  heedful  to 
consider  all  the  advantages  and  all  the  risks  of  an  enterprise, 
before  the  first  step  was  set  down  in  the  adoption  of  a  policy.  For 
seven  years  had  I  sufficient  means,  in  the  immediate  service  of  his 
household,  to  watch  the  courses  of  his  thoughts  and  character,  and 
to  know  the  virtues  and  the  strength  thereof.  I  saw  him  devise 
among  his  chiefs,  and  inform  them  with  his  own  devices.  I  have 
seen  him  lead  in  battle,  when  all  the  plans  were  his  own,  and  it 
was  his  equal  teaching  and  valiancy  by  which  the  field  was  won. 
Verily,  I  say  that  this  lord  of  Calos  were  a  prince  to  mate  with 
the  best  in  Europe  ;  and,  but  that  we  have  in  European  warfare 
such  engines  of  mischief  as  come  not  within  the  use  or  knowledge 
of  his  race,  it  were  difficult  to  circumvent  him  in  stratagem,  or 
overcome  his  braves  in  battle.  With  an  hundred  shot — no  less — 
and  employing  at  the  same  time  all  the  red-men  as  allies,  who 
are  hostile  to  this  king  of  Calos — and  they  are  many — and  I 
doubt  not  Monsieur  Laudonniere,  but  that  you  could  penetrate 
his  dominions  and  make  the  conquest  thereof.  But  of  him  could 
you  make  no  conquest.  He  is  a  warrior  of  the  proudest  stomach, 
who  would  rather  perish  than  lose  the  victory ;  and  who,  most 
surely,  would  never  survive  the  overthrow  of  his  dominion. 

"  Me,  did  this  great  king  examine  with  more  curious  eyes 
than  he  bestowed  upon  the  other  captives.  I  know  not  for  what 
reason,  unless  because  of  the  superior  size  and  strength  which  I 
possess,  and  the  extreme  length  and  thickness  of  my  beard  and 


230  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

hair,  of  which,  as  a  Christian  man,  I  have  always  made  too  much 
account.  All  of  us  did  he  assign  to  labor ;  to  the  gathering  of 
wood,and  work  in  the  maize  fields,  with  the  women.  By-and-by, 
there  came  a  preference  for  me  beyond  the  others.  I  was 
brought  into  the  king's  household,  and  barbed  his  arrows,  and 
wrought  upon  his  great  macanas,  and  strove,  among  the  Indians, 
in  hewing  out  his  canoes  from  the  cypress,  first  burning  out  the 
greater  core  with  fire.  But  when  harvest  time  came,  a  great 
festivity  was  held  among  the  savages.  Bitter  roots  were  gathered 
in  the  woods,  and  great  vessels  of  the  beverage  which  was  made 
thereof,  was  placed  within  the  council  or  round-house  of  the  nation. 
Thither  did  the  chiefs  resort  and  drink ;  and  ever  as  they  drank 
they  danced,  though  the  liquor  wrought  upon  them  like  aguar- 
diente with  the  European,  and  moved  them  even  as  the  most  violent 
of  emetic  medicines.  Still  danced  they,  and  still  they  danced  for 
the  space  of  three  whole  days. — But  the  lord  of  Calos  seemed  not 
to  mingle  at  this  strange  festival.  He  purposed  rites  still  more 
strange — rites,  which  even  now,  I  think  upon  with  horror  only. 
He  had  a  dwelling  to  himself  in  the  deep  woods,  whither  he  re- 
tired the  night  before  the  day  when  the  great  feast  of  the  nation 
was  to  begin.  Here  he  waited  all  the  night,  watching  with  re- 
verence and  patience  the  burning  of  a  strange  fire  which  had  been 
wrought  of  many  curious  and  fragrant  herbs  and  roots.  Three  of 
the  ancient  people,  the  priests  or  lawas,  as  they  style  themselves, 
retired  with  him  to  build  this  fire,  which,  when  it  began  to  burn, 
placing  in  store  a  sufficient  supply  of  aromatic  fuel  that  he 
might  feed  it  still,  they  left  him,  with  'strange  exorcising,  to  him- 
self. And  there  he  kept  watch  throughout  the  night.  But 
early  with  the  next  morning  he  came  forth,  and  he  sprinkled  the 
ashes  of  the  fire  upon  the  maize  field,  and  he  cried  thrice,with  a 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  231 

loud  voice,  of  Yo-he-wah,  which,  I  believe  to  mean  the  sacred 
name  as  known  among  the  red-men.  With  each  cry,  as  our  poor 
Spaniards,  myself  among  them,  were  gathering  the  green  ears 
from  the  maize  stalks,  the  priests  who  followed  the  king  of  Calos, 
seized  bodily  upon  three  of  our  brethren,  taking  us  by  surprise, 
and  putting  us  all  in  a  quaking  fear.  These  three  were  all 
brought  before  the  lord  of  Calos,  who,  not  looking  upon  them 
as  they  lay  bound  at  his  feet,  threw  yet  another  vessel  of  sacred 
ashes  into  the  air,  and  as  these  three  Spaniards  lay  separate,  with 
their  faces  looking  up,  I  beheld  the  ashes  sink  immediately  upon 
the  breast  of  him  whom  I  have  already  named  to  you — the  Jonas 
by  whom  our  vessel  was  doomed  to  wreck — the  cruel  Don  Juan 
de  Mores  y  Silva.  Now,  though  the  king  surely  looked  not  as  he 
threw  the  ashes  into  the  air,  yet  did  it  descend  upon  the  breast  of 
this  said  Spaniard,  as  certainly  as  if  the  eye  and  arm  of  this  lord 
had  been  upon  this  particular  person  at  the  moment  when  he 
threw.  Verily,  though  I  know  not  well  how  it  should  be — being 
counselled  by  Holy  Church  against  such  belief — yet,  verily,  had 
this  lord  of  Calos  certain  powers  which  did  seem  to  justify  the 
saying  among  his  people,  that  he  was  a  master  of  magic  and  of 
arts  superior  to  those  of  common  men. 

"  Now,  when  the  lawas,  or  priests,  beheld  where  the  ashes 
fell,  they  seized  incontinently  upon  the  Spaniard  aforesaid.  They 
bore  him  away  from  us,  wondering  and  fearing  all  the  while. 
But  those  who  remained  loosed  the  other  two  who  had  been 
bound,  and  they  were  set  free  with  the  rest,  to  pursue  their 
labors  in  the  corn-field.  But  we  were  not  let  to  know  the  awful 
fate  which  befel  the  Spaniard  who  was  taken.  Verily,  he  saw  his 
danger  in  the  moment  when  the  ashes  lighted  on  his  breast.  His 
face  was  whiter  than  the  blossom  of  the  dogwood  when  it  first 


232  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

opens  to  the  spring.  His  eye  glared,  and  his  lip  quivered  like  a 
leaf  in  the  gusts  of  March,  though  nothing  he  spake  at  anything 
they  did  to  him.  But  when  they  bore  him  away  from  our  eyes, 
then  a  terrible  fear  and  agony  caused  him  to  cry  aloud — (  Oh  ! 
my  countrymen,  will  you  not  save  me  from  the  bloody  savage  ! '  I 
cannot  soon  forget  that  cry,  which  was  clearly  that  of  a  person 
who  beholds  his  doom.  But  of  what  avail  ?  We  had  not  the 
people,  nor  the  strength,  nor  the  weapons  !  A  thousand  savages 
danced  wildly  around  the  council-house,  and  the  fields  were  full  of 
these  who  came  to  drink  and  dance.  Besides,  we  thought  not  of 
any  danger  but  our  own.  We  knew  not  how  soon  the  fate  was 
to  befal  us ;  for  had  it  not  seized  upon  Don  Juan  without  a 
warning  or  a  sign. 

"  They  bore  him  to  the  secret  tabernacle  in  the  woods,  where 
{he  lord  of  Calos  watched  alone.  We  saw  not  then,  but  after- 
wards we  knew,  what  had  been  his  fate.  There  they  laid  him 
upon  a  great  mound  of  earth,  with  the  sacred  fire  burning  at  his 
head  in  a  large  vessel  of  baked  clay,  formed  with  a  nice  art  by 
the  savages,  and  painted  with  the  mystic  figure  of  a  bloody  hand. 
The  garments  which  he  wore  were  taken  off,  and  his  limbs  were 
fastened  separately  to  great  stakes  driven  in  places  about  the 
mound.  Thus  were  his  hands  and  legs,  his  body  and  his  very 
neck  made  fast,  so  that  whatever  might  be  the  deed  done  upon 
him,  he  could  oppose  it  not  even  in  the  smallest  measure.  But  it 
was  permitted  him  to  cry  aloud — and  those  of  us  who  stole  into 
the  woods  seeking  to  hear, — with  a  terrible  curiosity  which  our 
very  apprehensions  fed, — we  heard, — we  heard, — and  even  as  the 
awful  scream  of  our  late  companion  came  piercing  through  the 
woods  upon  our  ears, — we  fled  afar  from  the  sound,  which  was 
that  of  a  mortal  agony  and  anguish.  And,  verily,  the  torture  to 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  233 

which  he  was  doomed  was  that  which  might  well  compel  the  poor 
outraged  heart  of  humanity  to  cry  aloud.  With  a  keen  knife, 
and  the  hand  of  one  who  had  practised  long  at  the  cruel  rite,  the 
lord  of  Cabs  laid  bare  the  breast  of  the  victim,  he  not  able  to 
struggle  even, — only  to  shriek, — he  laid  it  bare  as  one  peels  the 
ripe  fruit,  and  exposes  the  precious  heart  thereof !  Even  this  did 
the  lord  of  Calos.  He  stripped  the  skin  from  the  breast  of  his 
victim,  then,  with  sharp  strokes,  he  smote  away  the  flesh,  until 
the  quaking  ribs  lay  bare  to  his  point.  With  a  sharp  stone  chisel 
he  smote  the  breast-bone  asunder,  lifted  the  ribs,  and  tore  away 
the  smoking  heart,  which  he  cast,  reeking  red,  into  the  burning 
fire  of  odorous  woods  and  herbs,  which  then  flamed  up  and 
brightened  in  the  dark  chamber,  as  if  fed  with  some  ichorous 
fuel.  In  that  terrible  agony,  when  the  soul  and  the  human  life 
were  thus  rudely  torn  apart  from  the  mutual  embrace,  it  was  told 
me  by  the  lord  of  Calos,  himself,  that  the  victim  burst  one  of  the 
wythes  that  bound  him,  and  freed  his  right  hand,  which  he  waved 
violently  thrice,  even  while  his  murderer  was  plucking  his  heart 
away  from  its  quivering  fastenings  !  Oh  !  the  horror,  though  for 
a  moment  only,  of  that  awful  consciousness  !  Verily,  my  friends, 
if  the  lord  of  Calos  did  possess  a  power  of  magic  such  as  his  peo- 
ple affirm,  verily,  I  say,  he  paid  a  terrible  price  to  the  eternal 
hater  of  human  souls,  when  he  gat  from  him  his  perditions 
privilege  ! 

"  But  the  sufferings  of  that  wretched  victim,  who  then  and  thus 
perished,  were  they  greater  than  those  which  followed  our  foot- 
steps,— we,  the  survivors, — haunting  us  by  night  and  day,  with 
the  mortal  terrors  of  a  fear  that  such  must  be  our  doom  also  ? 
Every  rustle  of  an  approaching  footstep  among  the  maize-stalks 
where  we  toiled,  breaking  the  stems  and  gathering  the  ripened 


234  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

jf, 

ears,  seemed  to  our  woe-stricken  souls,  as  the  step  of  one  who 
came  as  an  executioner  ;  while  we  labored  in  the  gloomy  thicket, 
gathering  fuel  for  the  winter  fires,  the  same  fear  was  hanging  over 
us  with  a  threat  of  the  impending  doom.  We  lived  and  slept  in 
a  continual  dread  of  death,  which  made  the  hair  whiten  on  every 
brow,  even  of  the  youngest,  before  that  terrible  winter  was  gone 
over. 

"  To  us  it  was  assigned  to  put  away  the  body  of  our  murdered 
comrade.  But  this  was  only  after  the  three  days  of  the  feast  was 
elapsed,  and  when  the  duty  was  tenfold  distressing.  Still,  though 
all  our  senses  revolted  at  the  task,  a  fearful  curiosity  compelled  a 
close  examination  of  the  victim.  Then  it  was  that  we  saw  how 
the  execution  had  been  done,  though  we  knew  not  then,  nor  until 
some  time  after,  that  the  cell  which  enshrined  and  kept  the  heart 
had  been  torn  open,  and  the  sacred  possession  wrenched  away  with 
violent  hands,  even  while  the  wretched  victim  had  eyes  to  see,  as 
well  as  sensibilities  to  feel,  the  sacrilegious  and  bloody  theft.  We 
bore  the  body  far  into  the  woods,  wrapping  it  with  leaves  so  as  to 
hide  it  from  our  eyes,  while  we  carried  it  in  the  bottom  of  an  old 
canoe  which  we  found  for  this  purpose.  Our  burial  was  conducted 
after  the  fashion  of  the  red-men.  We  laid  the  corse  of  our  comrade 
upon  a  bed  of  leaves  on  the  naked  earth,  and  laid  heavy  frag- 
ments of  pine  and  other  combustible  wood  about  him.  With  this 
we  made  a  great  pile,  which  we  set  on  fire,  and  let  to  burn  until 
everything  was  consumed.  We  then,  with  sad,  sorrowing,  and 
trembling  hearts,  returned,  each  one  of  us,  in  a  mournful  silence 
that  wist  not  what  to  say,  to  our  separate  tasks,  and  the  places 
which  had  been  assigned  us. 

"  Now,  many  months  had  passed  in  this  manner,  and  still  J 
was  employed  about  the  king's  household.  This  lord  of  Calos 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  235 

distinguished  me,  as  I  have  said,  beyond  my  comrades.  I  had 
a  great  vigor  of  limb  which  is  not  common  among  this  people, 
except  in  so  much  as  it  moves  them  to  great  agility.  They  are 
rather  light,  swift  and  expert,  than  powerful  in  war ;  and  trust 
rather  to  great  cunning  than  superior  strength,  in  the  meeting 
with  their  enemies.  The  king  of  Calos  greatly  admired  to  see  me 
lift  heavy  logs  of  timber,  such  as  would  have  borne  down  any 
among  his  people  if  laid  upon  his  shoulders.  But  he  himself  had 
a  strength  superior  to  his  people,  and  he  wondered  even  more 
when,  striving  to  lift  the  logs  which  I  laid  down,  he  found  it  be- 
yond his  mastery.  Then,  he  put  his  bow  into  my  hand,  and 
giving  me  a  cloth-yard  shaft  of  reed,  well  tipped  with  a  flinty 
barb,  and  dressed  with  an  eagle's  feather,  he  bade  me  draw  it  to 
the  head,  and  send  it  as  I  would.  Upon  which,  doing  so,  he 
greatly  wondered  to  see  how  rapid  and  distant  was  the  flight,  for 
well  he  knew  that  the  ability  to  shoot  the  arrow  far  comes  rather 
from  sleight  than  from  strength,  and  is  an  art  that  only  grows 
from  practice.  But  this,  perhaps,  had  not  fully  given  me  to  the 
confidence  of  the  king,  had  it  not  been  for  a  service  which  I  ren- 
dered on  one  occasion  to  his  favorite  son,  a  boy  of  but  twelve 
years  of  age,  whom  I  plucked  from  beneath  the  feet  of  a  great 
stag,  which  the  hunters  had  wounded  in  the  forest.  The  red-men 
greatly  delight  to  see  their  sons  take  part  in  the  chase,  even  while 
their  gristle  is  yet  soft  and  their  limbs  feeble  ;  for  by  this  early 
practice  they  desired  to  make  them  strong  and  skilful.  The  son 
of  the  lord  of  Calos  was  a  .youth,  tall  and  strong  beyond  his 
years;  and  because  of  the  fondness  of  his  father,  exceedingly 
audacious  in  all  manner  of  sports  and  strifes.  Thus  it  was  that, 
having  seen  a  great  stag  wounded  by  the  shaft  of  his  sire,  he  had 
run  in  upon  him  with  his  slender  spear.  The  staff  of  the  spear 


236  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

broke,  even  as  the  barb  penetrated  the  breast  of  the  beast,  and 
the  boy  fell  forward  at  the  mercy  of  his  mighty  antlers.  Then 
was  it  that,  seeing  the  lad's  danger, — for  I  was  at  hand,  bearing 
the  victuals  for  the  hunters — I  threw  down  the  basket,  and  rush- 
ing in,  took  the  stag  by  his  horns,  in  season  for  the  lad  to  recover 
himself.  The  lord  of  Calos  drew  nigh  and  saw,  but  he  offered  no 
help,  leaving  it  to  his  son  to  draw  the  keen  knife  which  he  carried, 
over  the  throat  of  the  struggling  beast.  And,  excepting  what  the 
boy  said  to  me  of  thanks,  nothing  did  I  hear  of  the  thing  which  I 
had  done.  But,  three  weeks  after,  the  king  made  his  preparations 
for  a  war  party  against  the  mountain  Indians.  Then  he  spoke  to 
me,  saying,  in  his  own  language, — which,  by  this  time,  I  could 
understand, — Barbu, — this  was  the  name  which  had  been  given 
me  because  of  my  beard — Barbu,  it  is  not  fit  that  one  with  such 
limbs  and  skill  as  thou  hast,  should  labor  still  in  the  occupation  of 
the  women.  G-et  thee  a  spear,  such  as  will  suit  thy  grasp,  and 
there  are  bows  and  arrows  for  thy  choice, — make  thee  satisfied 
with  sufficient  provision,  and  get  thee  ready  to  go  against  mine 
enemies.  Thou  shalt  have  to  tear  the  flesh  of  a  strong  man  ! 

"  Verily,  my  friends,  though  it  shames  me  to  confess,  that  I,  a 
Christian  man,  could  lift  weapon  in  behalf  of  one  against  another 
savage  of  the  wilderness ;  yet  such  had  been  my  sorrow,  and  so 
wretched  did  I  feel  at  the  base  tasks  to  which  I  had  been  given, 
— so  very  unlike  the  valiant  duties  which  had  distinguished  mine 
ancient  service  in  the  armies  of  Castile, — that  I  even  rejoiced  at 
the  chance  of  putting  on  the  armor  of  war, — and  the  meaner 
weapon  of  the  red-men  satisfied  me  then,  who  of  old  had  carried, 
with  great  favor,  the  matchlock  and  the  sword.  But  the  weapon 
of  the  savage,  as  perchance  thou  knowest,  is  not  greatly  inferior, 
according  to  their  usage,  and  in  their  country,  to  the  superior  im- 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  237 

plements  with  which  the  Christian  warrior  takes  the  field.  If  the 
arquebuse  is  more  fatal  than  the  barbed  arrow  of  the  Indian,  it  is 
yet  less  frequently  ready  for  the  danger.  While  you  shall  have 
put  your  pieces  in  readiness  for  a  second  fire,  the  savage  will 
deliver  thirty  javelins,  each  of  which,  if  within  bullet  reach, 
shall  inflict  such  an  injury,  short  of  death,  as  may  disarm  the 
wounded  person.  Their  reeds  are  always  ready  at  hand.  To 
them  every  bay  and  river  bank  affords  an  armory,  and  the  loss 
of  their  weapons,  which  were  fatal  to  Frenchman  or  Spaniard, 
causes  them  but  little  mischief,  since  a  single  night  will  repair  all 
their  losses.  Neither  much  time  nor  much  cost  is  it  to  them  to 
supply  their  munitions,  of  which  they  can  always  carry  a  more 
abundant  provision  than  can  we.  The  great  superiority  of  the 
European,  in  his  encounter  with  the  red-man,  is  in  his  wisdom, 
the  fruit  of  many  ages  of  civilization,  and  not  in  the  weapons 
which  he  wields  in  conflict.  Let  him  exchange  weapons  with  the 
savage,  and  he  will  still  obtain  the  victory. 

"  It  was  because  of  this  showing  of  superiority,  together  with 
the  service  which  I  had  thus  rendered  to  his  son,  that  made  the 
lord  of  Calos  take  me  with  him,  armed  as  a  warrior,  on  his  ex- 
pedition against  the  mountain  Indians  of  Apalachy.  I  hastened 
to  provide  myself  with  weapons,  as  I  was  commanded,  and  I  made 
for  myself  a  great  mace,  such  as  that  which  the  strongest  warriors 
carried,  which  was  a  billet  of  hard  wood,  not  more  than  four  feet 
in  length,  with  a  handle  easy  to  the  grasp,  while  at  each  side  ran 
down  a  great  row  of  flinty  teeth,  each  broad  and  sharpened  like 
to  a  spear-head.  It  is  a  fatal  weapon,  with  a  well-delivered  blow. 
In  like  manner  did  I  imitate  the  practice  of  the  red-men  in  dress- 
ing the  head  and  breast  for  war.  I  put  on  the  paints,  red  and 
black,  which  I  beheld  them  use  ;  but,  instead  of  the  unmeaning 


238  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

and  rude  figures  which  they  scored  upon  the  breast,  I  drew  there 
the  figure  of  a  large  cross,  by  which,  though  none  but  myself 
might  know,  I  made  anew  my  assurance  to  Holy  Mother,  of  a 
faith  unperishing,  in  Him  who  bore  its  burthen  ;  and  implored  His 
protection  against  the  perils  which  might  lurk  along  the  path.  In 
the  same  manner,  with  a  bloody  cross,  did  I  inscribe  my  forehead 
and  each  cheek,  while  I  dipped  my  hands  above  the  wrist  in  the 
black  dyes  which  they  also  used  as  paints,  and  which  they  took 
from  the  walnut  and  other  woods  of  the  forest.  Greatly  did  my 
Christian  comrades  wonder  to  behold  me,  painted  after  this 
fashion,  with  a  bunch  of  turkey  feathers  tied  about  my  head  like 
the  savage,  and  the  strange  weapons  of  the  red-men  in  my 
grasp.  These  rejoiced  exceedingly  as  they  beheld  me,  and 
laughed  and  chatted  among  themselves,  saying — *  Yah-hee-wee  ! 
Yah-hee-wee !'  with  other  words,  by  which  they  testified  their 
satisfaction."  But  our  Spaniards  were  in  the  same  degree  sorry, 
as  it  seemed  to  them  that,  in  spite  of  the  holy  emblem  upon  my 
breast,  I  had  delivered  myself  up  to  the  enemy,  and  had  put  on, 
whh  the  habit,  all  the  superstitions  of  the  Heathen.  They  had 
sorrow  upon  other  grounds,  since  I  was  about  to  leave  them,  and, 
from  the  favor  I  had  found  with  the  lord  of  Calos,  I  had  grown  to 
be  one  to  whom  they  began  to  look  as  to  a  mediator  and  pro- 
tector. 

"  We  set  out  thus  for  the  country  of  the  enemy,  the  lord  of 
Calos  leading  the  way  upon  the  march,  as  is  the  custom  with  the 
Indians,  while  the  foe  is  yet  at  a  distance  from  the  spot.  But,  as 
we  drew  nigh  to  the  hills  of  the  Apalachian,  the  young  men  were 
scattered  on  every  hand,  as  so  many  light  troops.  They  covered 
all  the  paths,  they  harbored  in  all  places  where  they  could  main- 
tain watch  and  find  security,  and  nightly  they  sent  in  runners  to 


THE  ADVENTURE  OP  LE  BARBU.  239 

the  camp,  reporting  their  discoveries.  I  entreated  of  the  lord  of 
Calos  to  be  sent  with  these  young  men  ;  but,  whether  he  feared 
that  I  would  seek  an  opportunity  to  fly  and  escape  to  the  enemy, 
I  know  not.  He  refused,  saying  that  it  required  scouts  of  ex- 
perience,— men  who  knew  the  ways  of  the  country,  and  that  I 
could  be  of  no  use  in  such  adventures.  He  was  pleased  to  add 
that  he  wished  me  near  him,  as  one  of  his  own  warriors — that  is, 
the  warriors  of  his  family  or  tribe — that  I  might  do  battle  at  his 
side,  and  in  his  sight ! 

"  We  were  not  long  in  finding  the  enemy,  who  had  received 
tidings  of  our  approach.  Several  battles  were  fought,  in  which 
I  did  myself  credit  in  the  eyes  of  our  warriors.  The  lord  of  Calos 
was  greatly  pleased.  He  took  me  with  him  into  counsel,  and  it 
was  fortunate  that  the  advice  which  I  gave,  as  to  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  was  adopted,  and  was  greatly  successful.  Many  were 
the  warriors  of  the  mountain  whom  we  slew.  Many  scalps  were 
taken,  and  more  than  a  hundred  captive  boys  and  damsels. 
These,  if  young,  are  always  spared,  and  taken  into  the  conquering 
tribe.  The  former  are  newly  marked  with  the  totem  of  the  peo- 
ple who  take  them,  while  the  latter  become  the  wives  of  the 
chiefs,  who  greatly  value  them.  I  confess  to  you,  my  brethren, 
that  I  was  guilty  of  the  sin  of  taking  one  of  these  same  women 
into  my  cabin,  who  was  to  me  as  a  wife,  though  no  holy  priest, 
with  appointed  ceremonials  of  the  church,  gave  his  sanction  to  our 
communion.  She  was  a  lovely  and  a  loving  creature,  scarcely 
sixteen,  but  very  fair,  almost  like  a  Spaniard,  and  of  hair  so  long 
that  she  hath  thrice  wrapt  it  around  her  own  neck  and  mine." 

"  Why  didst  thou  not  tell  me  of  that  woman  ?"  said  Laudon- 
niere,  interrupting  the  narrator.  "  Had  we  known,  she  should 
have  been  procured  with  thee.  But,  even  now,  it  is  not  too  late. 


240  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

We  will  bid  the  chief,  Onathaqua,  send  her  after  thee,  so  that 
thou  may'st  wed  her  according  to  the  rites  of  the  church." 

"  Alas  !"  replied  Barbu,  "  thou  compellest  me,  Seiior  Lau- 
donniere,  to  unravel  sin  after  sin  before  thee.  I  have  greatly 
erred  and  wandered  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  and  from  the  laws 
of  Holy  Church,  in  my  grievous  sojourn  among  the  savages. 
That  woman  filled  no  longer  the  place  which  she  had  at  first  in 
my  affections.  With  increase  of  power  and  security,  I  grew 
wanton.  I  grew  weary  of  her,  and  sold  her  to  one  of  the  chiefs 
for  a  damsel  of  his  own  house,  which  mine  eyes  coveted." 

The  Spaniard  hung  his  head  as  he  made  this  confession,  while 
Laudonniere  with  severe  aspect  rated  him  for  his  lecheries. 
When  the  captain  had  ceased  his  rebuke,  Le  Barbu  continued  his 
story  thus : 

"  We  gained  many  battles  in  this  war  with  the  mountain  Indians, 
who  are  neither  so  fierce,  nor  so  subtle  as  those  who  dwell  along 
the  regions  of  the  sea.  Verily,  the  people  of  the  lord  of  Calos 
are  great  dissemblers,  treacherous  beyond  the  serpent,  valiant  of 
their  persons,  and  fight  with  excellent  address.  Great  was  the 
favor  which  I  found  with  them  because  of  my  conduct  in  the  war ; 
and,  in  each  succeeding  war,  for  a  space  of  six  years,  I  became, 
in  like  manner,  distinguished,  until  I  became  a  most  favorite 
chief  with  the  lord  of  Calos,  and  a  bosom  friend  and  companion 
of  his  son — he  whom  I  had  rescued  from  the  stag,  and  who  had 
now  grown  up  to  manhood.  Greatly  did  this  lad  favor  his  father. 
He  was  of  a  light  olive  complexion,  scarcely  more  dark  than  the 
people  of  Spanish  race,  but  superior  in  stature,  well-limbed,  and 
of  admirable  dexterity.  With  him- 1  hunted  from  the  fall  of  the 
leaf  in  autumn,  to  the  budding  of  the  leaf  again  in  spring  ;  and, 
when  the  summer  time  came,  we  sped  away  in  our  canoes,  up  the 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  241 

vast  rivers  of  the  country,  through  great  lakes,  many  of  which 
lie  embadey  in  forests  of  mangrove  and  palm,  where  the  forest 
swims  upon  the  water.  If  it  were  possible  for  a  Christian  man — 
for  one  who  has  heard  the  sound  of  a  great  bell  in  the  cities  of 
the  old  world,  and  who  has  communed  with  the  various  good  and 
wondrous  things  of  civilization — to  be  content  with  a  loss  of  these, 
and  their  utter  exclusion  from  sight  for  ever,  then  might  I  have 
passed  pleasantly  the  years  of  my  captivity  among  the  people  of 
Calos.  I  had  become  a  chief  and  was  greatly  honored.  I  had 
power  and  I  was  much  feared.  I  had  wealth — such  wealth  as 
the  savage  estimates — and  I  was  loved; and  the  lord  of  Calos  and 
his  noble  son,  put  in  me  a  faith  which  never  betrayed  a  doubt  or 
a  denial.  But  I  had  not  power  to  shield  my  brother  Christians, 
save  in  one  case.  Each  year  witnessed  the  sacrifice  of  a  com- 
rade. They  were  the  victims  to  the  lawas.  The  priesthood 
was  a  power  under  which  the  kings  themselves  were  made  to 
tremble.  With  them  was  it  to  determine  upon  peace  or  war, 
life  or  death,  bonds  or  freedom  ;  and  the  strength  of  the  king  lay 
greatly  in  his  alliance  with  the  priesthood.  But  for  this,  the  rule 
among  the  savage  nations  would  be  wholly  with  the  people. 
Season  after  season,  when  came  the  harvest,  one  of  our  luckless 
Spaniards  was  taken  away  from  the  rest  and  doomed  to  the 
sacrifice.  In  this  way  the  savages  propitiate  the  unknown  God, 
to  whom  they  looked  for  victory  over  their  enemies.  Do  not  sup- 
pose that  I  beheld  this  cruelty  without  toiling  against  it.  But  I 
spoke  in  vain.  I  made  angry  the  lawas,  until  the  lord  of  Calos 
himself  addressed  me,  after  this  fashion — *  Son  of  the  stranger, 
art  thou  not  well  thyself?  Why  wouldst  thou  be  sick,  being 
well  ?  Art  thou  not  thyself  safe  ?  Why,  being  so,  put  thy 

head  under  the  macana  ?    It  is  not  wise  in  thee  to  see  the  things 
11 


242  THE    LILY    AND   THE    TOTEM. 

over  which  the  power  is  denied  thee.  Go  then,  with  Mico 
Wa-ha-la,' — such  was  the  name  of  his  son — '  go  then  with  him 
into  the  great  lake  of  the  forest,  and  come  not  back  for  a  season. 
Depart  thou  thus,  always,  when  the  maize  is  ready  for  the  har- 
vest.' 

"  I  obeyed  him ;  but  not  until  I  found  that  I  was  endangering 
my  own  safety  to  attempt  further  expostulation ;  and  then  it  was 
that  my  companions  perished,  all  save  the  one  who  now  sits  be- 
fore thee  with  myself,  and  whom  I  saved  because  of  a  service 
which  I  rendered  to  the  lawa,  and  whom  I  persuaded  to  take  my 
white  brother  into  his  wigwam.  He  went,  even  before  myself, 
but  through  my  means,  into  the  service  of  Onathaqua." 

Here  Captain  Laudonniere  interrupted  the  speaker. 

"  For  what  reason,"  said  he,  "  being  such  a  favorite  with  the 
king  of  Calos  and  his  son,  didst  thou  at  last  leave  his  service 
for  that  of  the  King  Onathaqua  ?" 

"  Alas,  Sefior  Laudonniere,  thy  question  shames  me  again, 
since  it  requires  of  me  to  lay  bare  another  of  the  vices  of  my 
evil  heart,  and  to  confess  how  the  bad  passions  thereof  could 
lead  me  into  follies  which  proved  fatal  to  my  better  fortune.  I 
had  gained  great  honor  among  the  savages  by  my  prudence  and 
my  skill  in  war,  my  strength  in  battle,  and  the  excellence  of  my 
counsel  in  the  country  of  the  enemy.  I  had  gained  the  good  will 
and  protection  of  the  great  king  of  Calos,  and  the  affection  of 
his  son,  the  noble  young  Mico  Wa-ha-la  !  But  these  contented 
me  nothing,  though  they  brought  plenty  and  security  to  my 
wigwam,  and  such  delights  as  might  satisfy  the  man,  a  dweller  in 
the  wilderness.  I  have  said  that  I  was  greatly  trusted  by  the 
king,  the  prince,  and  the  head  men  of  the  country.  These  then, 
after  I  had  been  eight  years  in  their  service,  confided  to  my 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  243 

charge  a  great  and  sacred  commission.  The  time  had  come 
when  it  became  proper  that  this  Mico  Wa-ha-la  should  take  to 
himself  a  wife.  Now,  tidings  had  reached  Calos  of  a  creature, 
lovely  as  a  daughter  of  the  sun,  who  was  the  youngest  child  of 
the  King  Onathaqua.  A  treaty  was  agreed  upon  between  the 
two  kings  for  the  marriage  of  their  children ;  and  I  was  dis- 
patched, with  a  select  body  of  warriors,  to  bring  the  maiden 
home  to  her  new  sovereign.  It  was  not  the  custom  for  a  chief 
desiring  a  wife,  that  he  should  seek  her  in  person.  Acccordingly 
I  was  dispatched,  and  I  reached  the  territories  of  Onathaqua  in 
safety.  Here  I  beheld  the  maiden  in  pursuit  of  whom  I  came, 
and  my  froward  heart  instantly  conceived  the  wildest  affection  for 
her  beauty.  Beautiful  she  was  as  any  of  our  Castilian  maidens, 
and  as  delicate  and  modestly  proper  in  her  bearing,  as  one  may 
see  in  the  gentlest  damsel  of  a  Christian  country.  Deeply  was  I 
smitten  with  this  new  flame,  and  greatly  did  I  strive  to  please 
the  maiden  who  had  fired  me  with  these  fresh  fancies.  I  spake 
with  her  in  the  Indian  language,  with  charms  of  thought  which 
had  been  taken  from  the  Castilian,  such  as  were  vastly  superior 
to  those  which  belonged  to  Indian  courtship.  I  sang  to  her  many 
a  glorious  ballad  of  the  sweet  romance  of  my  country,  discours- 
ing of  the  tender  loves  between  the  Castilian  cavaliers  and  the 
dark-eyed  and  dark-tressed  maidens  of  Grenada.  Verily,  the 
beauty  of  the  delicate  daughter  of  Onathaqua,  the  precious 
Istakalina — by  which  the  people  of  Onathaqua  understand  the 
white  lily  of  the  lake  before  it  opens — was  no  unbecoming  repre- 
sentative of  that  choice  dark  beauty  which  made  the  charm  of 
the  Moorish  damsel  of  my  land,  ere  Boabdil  gave  up  his  sceptre 
into  the  hands  of  the  holy  Ferdinand.  For  Istakalina,  I  ren- 
dered the  language  of  the  Castilian  romance  into  the  dialect  of 


244  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

her  people  ;  and  with  a  sad  fondness  in  her  eyes,  that  drooped 
ever  while  looking  upwards  at  the  passionate  gaze  of  mine,  did 
she  listen  to  the  story  of  feelings  and  affections  to  which  her  own 
young  and  innocent  nature  did  now  tenderly  incline.  Thus  was 
it  that  she  was  delivered  into  my  keeping  by  her  sire,  that  I 
should  conduct  her  to  the  young  Mico  Wa-ha-la,  my  friend. 
And  thus,  with  fond  discourse  of  song  and  story,  which  grew 
more  fond  with  every  passing  hour — with  me  to  speak  and  she  to 
listen — did  we  commence  our  journey  homeward  to  the  dominions 
of  the  lord  of  Calos.  Alas  !  for  me,  and  alas !  for  the  hapless 
maiden,  that,  in  the  fondness  of  my  passion,  I  forgot  my  trust ; 
forgot  preciously  to  guard  and  protect  the  precious  treasure  in 
my  keeping  ;  and, in  the  increase  of  my  blind  love,  forgot  all  the 
lessons  of  war  and  wisdom,  and  all  the  necessary  providence 
which  these  equally  demand.  Thus  was  it  that  I  was  dispos- 
sessed of  my  charge,  at  the  very  moment  when  it  was  most  dear 
to  my  delight.  Didst  thou  ask  me  for  the  hope  which  grew  with 
this  blind  passion,  verily,  sefior,  I  should  have  to  say  tp  thee  that 
I  had  none.  I  thought  not  of  the  morrow  ;  I  dared  not  think  of 
the  time  when  Istakalina  should  fill  the  cabin  of  Wa-ha-la.  I 
knew  nothing  but  that  she  was  with  me,  with  her  dark  eyes  ever 
glistening  beneath  their  darker  lids,  as  she  met  the  burning 
speech  of  mine  ;  that  we  thridded  the  sinuous  paths  of  silent  and 
shady  forests,  with  none  to  reproach  our  speech  or  glances  ;  our 
attendants,  some  of  them  going  on  before,  and  some  following  ; 
and  that,when  she  ascended  the  litter,  which  was  borne  by  four 
stout  savages,  or  sat  in  the  canoe  as  we  sped  across  lake  or 
river — for  both  of  these  modes  of  travel  did  we  at  times  pursue — 
I  was  still  the  nearest  to  her  side,  drunk  with  her  sweet  beauty, 
and  the  sad  tenderness  which  dwelt  in  all  her  looks  and  actions. 


THE  ADVENTURE  OP  LE  BARBU.  245 

Nor  was  it  less  my  madness  that  I  fondly  set  to  the  account  of 
her  fondness  for  me,  the  very  sadness  with  which  she  answered 
my  looks,  and  the  sweet  sigh  which  rose  so  often  to  her  softly 
parted  lips.  Verily,  was  never  man  and  Christian  so  false  and 
foolish  as  was  I,  in  those  bitter  blessed  moments.  Thus  was  I 
blinded  to  all  caution — thus  was  I  heedless  of  all  danger — thus 
was  I  caught  in  the  snare,  to  the  loss  of  all  that  was  precious  as 
well  to  my  captor  as  myself. 

"  How  was  this  ?  How  happened  it  ?"  demanded  Laudonniere 
as  Le  Barbu  paused,  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands  in 
silence,  as  if  overcome  with  a  great  misery. 

"  Thou  shalt  hear,  Sefior.  I  will  keep  nothing  from  thee  of 
this  sad  confession ;  for,  verily,  have  I  long  since  repented  of 
the  sin  and  folly  which  brought  after  them  so  much  evil.  Thou 
shalt  know  that,  distant  from  the  territories  of  the  lord  of  Calos, 
a  journey  of  some  three  days,  and  nearly  that  far  distant  also 
from  the  dwelling  of  Onathaqua,  there  lieth  a  great  lake  of  fresh 
water,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  an  island  named  Sarropee.  This 
island  and  the  country  which  surrounds  the  lake,  is  kept  by  a 
very  powerful  nation,  a  fierce  people,  not  so  numerous  as  strong, 
because  they  have  places  of  retreat  and  refuge,  whither  no  enemy 
dare  pursue  them.  On  the  firm  land,  and  in  open  conflict,  the 
lord  of  Calos  had  long  before  conquered  this  strange  people  ; 
bnt  in  their  secure  harborage  and  vast  water  thickets,  they 
mocked  at  the  power  of  all  the  surrounding  kings.  These, 
accordingly,  kept  with  them  a  general  peace,  which  was  seldom, 
broken,  except  under  circumstances  such  as  those  which  I  shall 
now  unfold.  The  people  of  this  lake  and  island  are  rich  in  the 
precious  root  called  the  Coonti,  of  which  they  have  an  abundance, 
of  a  quality  far  superior  to  that  of  all  the  neighboring  country. 


246  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Their  dates,  which  give  forth  a  delicious  honey,  are  in  great 
abundance  also,  and  of  these  their  traffic  is  large  with  all  other 
nations.  But  that  they  are  a  most  valiant  people,  and  occupy  a 
territory  so  troublesome  to  penetrate,  they  had  been  destroyed  by 
other  nations,  all  of  whom  are  greedy  for  the  rich  productions 
which  their  watery  realm  bestows.  Now,  it  was,  that,  in  our 
journey  homewards,  we  drew  nigh  to  the  great  lake  of  the  people 
of  the  isle  of  Sarropee.  Here  it  was  that  my  discretion  failed  me 
in  my  passion.  Here  it  was  that  my  footstep  faltered,  and  the 
vision  of  mine  eyes  was  completely  shut.  I  knew  that  our  people 
were  at  peace  with  the  people  of  Sarropee,  and  I  thought  not  of 
them.  But  had  I  not  been  counselled  to  vigilance  in  bringing 
home  the  daughter  of  Onathaqua,  even  as  if  the  woods  were 
thick  with  enemies  ?  But  I  had  forgotten  this  caution.  I  sent 
forth  no  spies ;  I  sought  for  no  wisdom  from  my  young  warriors ; 
and,  like  an  ignorant  child  that  knows  not  of  the  deep  gulf 
beneath,  I  stepped  confidently  into  the  little  canoe  which  was  to 
take  Istakalina  and  myself  across  an  arm  of  the  lake  which  set 
inwards,  while  our  warriors  fetched  a  long  compass  around  it. 
Alas  !  sefior,  I  was  beguiled  to  this  folly  by  the  fond  desire  that  I 
might  have  the  lovely  maiden  wholly  to  myself  in  the  little  canoe, 
for  already  did  I  begin  to  grieve  with  the  thought  that  in  a  few 
days,  the  journey  would  be  at  an  end,  and  I  should  then  yield  her 
unto  the  embraces  of  another.  And  thus  we  entered  the  canoe. 
I  made  for  her  a  couch,  in  the  bottom  of  the  little  boat,  of  leaves 
gathered  from  the  scented  myrtle.  With  the  paddle  in  my 
hand,  I  began  to  urge  the  vessel,  but  very  slowly,  lest  that  we 
should  too  soon  reach  the  shore,  and  find  the  warriors  waiting  for 
us.  Sweetly  did  I  strive  to  discourse  in  her  listening  ears ;  and 
with  what  dear  delight  did  I  behold  her  as  she  answered  me  only 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  247 

with  her  tears.  But  these  were  as  the  cherished  drops  of  hope 
about  mine  heart,  which  gave  it  a  life  which  it  never  knew  before. 
While  thus  we  sped,  dreaming  nothing  of  any  danger,  over  the 
placid  waters,  with  the  dark  green  mangrove  about  us,  and  a  soft 
breeze  playing  on  the  surface  of  the  great  lake,  suddenly,  from 
out  the  palm  bushes,  darted  a  cloud  of  boats,  filled  with  painted 
warriors,  that  bore  down  upon  us  with  shows  of  fury  and  a 
mighty  shout  of  war.  I  answered  them  with  a  shout,  not  un- 
like their  own,  for  already  had  1  imbibed  something  of  the  Indian 
nature.  I  shouted  the  war-whoop  of  the  lord  of  Calos,  and 
tried  to  make  myself  heard  by  the  distant  warriors  that  formed 
my  escort.  And  they  did  hear  my  clamors ;  for  already  had  they 
rounded  the  bayou  or  arm  of  the  lake  which  I  had  sought  to 
cross,  and  were  pressing  down  towards  us  upon  the  opposite  banks. 
Then  did  I  bestir  the  paddle  in  my  grasp,  making  rapid  progress 
for  the  shore,  while  the  canoes  of  the  Sarropee  strove  to  dart 
between  us  and  the  place  for  which  I  bent.  But  what  could  my 
single  paddle  avail  against  their  better  equipment  ?  Theirs 
were  canoes  of  war,  carrying  each  more  than  a  score  of  power- 
ful warriors  armed  for  action,  and  prepared  to  peril  their  lives  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  object.  I,  too,  was  armed  as  an  Indian 
warrior,  and  with  their  approach,  I  betook  me  to  my  weapon.  I 
had  learned  to  throw  the  short  lance,  or  the  javelin  of  the 
savage,  with  a  dexterity  like  his  own ;  and,  ere  they  could  ap- 
proach me,  I  had  fatally  struck  with  these  darts  two  of  their 
most  valiant  warriors.  They  strove  not  to  return  the  arrows 
lest  they  should  hurt  the  maiden,  Istakalina,  who  had  raised  her- 
self at  the  first  danger,  and  now  strove  with  the  paddle  which  I 
had  thrown  down.  As  one  of  the  canoes  which  threatened  us 
drew  nigh,  I  seized  the  great  macana  which  I  carried,  and  pre- 


248  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

pared  myself  to  use  it  upon  the  most  forward  warriors ;  but  when 
I  expected  that  they  would  assail  me  with  war-club  and  spear, 
the  cunning  savages  thrust  their  great  prow  against  our  little 
boat,  amidships,  and  even  while  my  macana  lighted  on  the  head 
of  one  of  the  assailants,  smiting  him  fatally,  I  fell  over  into  the 
lake  with  the  upsetting  of  our  vessel.  In  a  moment  had  they 
grasped  Istakalina  from  the  lake,  and  taken  her  to  themselves  in 
their  own  canoe,  and  as  I  raised  my  head  from  the  water,  be- 
holding this  mishap,  a  heavy  stroke  upon  my  shoulder,  which 
narrowly  missed  my  head,  warned  me  of  my  danger.  Then, 
seeing  that  I  could  no  longer  save  the  captive  maiden,  I  dived 
deeply  under,  making  my  way  like  an  otter,  beneath  the  water, 
for  the  shore.  A  flight  of  arrows  followed  my  rising  to  take  the 
air,  but  they  were  hurriedly  delivered,  with  little  aim,  and  only 
one  of  them  grazed  my  cheek.  The  mark  is  still  here  as  thou 
seest.  Again  1  dived  beneath  the  water,  still  swimming  shore- 
ward, and  when  I  next  rose  into  the  light  and  air,  I  was  among 
the  people  of  the  lord  of  Calos.  They  were  now  assembled  along 
the  banks  of  the  lake,  as  near  as  they  could  go  to  the  enemy, 
some  of  them,  indeed,  having  waded  waist  deep  in  their  wild  fury 
and  desperate  defiance.  But  of  what  avail  were  their  weapons 
or  their  rage  ?  The  maiden,  Istakalina,  the  princess  and  the 
betrothed  of  Wa-ha-la,  was  gone.  The  people  of  the  Sarropee 
had  borne  her  off,  heeding  me  little  even  as  they  had  taken  her. 
She  was  already  far  off,  moving  towards  the  centre  of  the  lake, 
and  faint  were  the  cries  which  now  came  from  her,  though  it 
delighted  my  poor  vain  heart,  in  that  desperate  hour,  to  perceive 
that,  in  her  last  cries,  it  was  my  unhappy  name  that  she  uttered. 
They  bore  her  away  to  the  secret  island  where  they  dwelt,  in 
secure  fastnesses  ;  and  long  and  fruitless,  though  full  of  despera- 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  LE  BARBU.  249 

tion,  was  the  war  that  followed  for  her  recovery.  But,  though  I 
myself  fought  in  this  war,  as  I  never  have  fought  before,  yet  did 
I  not  dare  to  do  battle  under  the  eye,  or  among  the  warriors  of 
the  lord  of  Calos.  I  fled  from  his  sight  and  from  the  reproaches 
of  my  friend,  the  Mico  Wa-ha-la,  for,  in  my  soul,  I  felt  how 
deep  had  been  my  guilt,  and  my  conscience  did  not  dare  the 
encounter  with  their  eyes.  I  took  refuge  with  Onathaqua,  the 
father  of  Istakalina  ;  and  when  he  knew  of  the  valor  with  which 
I  strove  against  the  captivity  of  the  maiden,  he  forgave  me 
that  I  lost  her  through  my  own  imprudence.  Of  the  blind  and 
selfish  passion  which  prompted  that  imprudence,  he  did  not 
dream,  and  he  so  forgave  me.  Under  his  lead,  I  took  up  arms 
against  the  tribes  of  Sarropee,  and  for  two  years  did  the  war 
continue,  with  great  slaughter  and  distress  among  the  several 
nations.  But,  in  all  our  battles,  I  kept  ever  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  great  lake,  and  never  allowed  myself  to  join  with  the  warriors 
of  Calos.  They  but  too  well  conceived  my  guilt.  The  keen 
eyes  of  mine  escort  distinguished  my  passion,  and  saw  that  it  was 
not  ungracious  in  the  sight  of  Istakalina.  Too  truly  did  they 
report  us  to  the  lord  of  Calos,  and  to  my  friend,  the  young  Mico 
Wa-ha-la.  Bitter  was  the  reproach  which  he  made  me  in  a  last 
gift  which  he  sent  me,  while  I  dwelt  with  Onathaqua.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  single  arrow,  from  which  depended  a  snake  skin,  with 
the  warning  rattles  still  hanging  thereto.  *  Say  to  the  bearded 
man,'  said  the  Mico,  i  when  you  give  him  this,  that  it  comes  from 
Wa-ha-la.  Tell  him  that  his  friend  sends  him  this,  in  token  that 
he  knows  how  much  he  hath  been  wronged.  Say  to  the  bearded 
man,  that  Wa-ha-la  had  but  one  flower  of  the  forest,  and  that 
his  friend  hath  gathered  it.  Let  his  friend  beware  the  arrow  of 
11* 


250  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  warrior,  and  the  deadly  fang  of  the  war-rattle,  for  the  path 
between  us  is  everywhere  sown  with  the  darts  of  death.' 

Thus  he  spake,  and  I  was  silent.  I  was  guilty.  I  could 
not  excuse  myself,  and  did  not  entreat.  I  felt  the  truth  of 
his  complaint  and  the  justice  of  his  anger.  I  felt  how  great  had 
been  my  folly  and  my  crime.  Istakalina  was  lost  to  us  both. 
Thus  then,  a  fugitive,  and  an  outlaw  from  Calos,  dreading  every 
moment  the  vengeance  of  Wa-ha-la  and  his  warriors,  I  dwelt 
for  seven  years  with  Onathaqua,  who  hath  ever  treated  me  as  a 
son.  I  have  fought  among  his  warriors,  and  shared  the  fortunes 
of  his  people,  of  which  nothing  more  need  be  said.  Tidings  at 
length  came  to  me,  of  a  people  in  the  country  bearded  like 
myself.  Then  came  your  messengers  to  Onathaqua,  and  you 
behold  me  here.  I  looked  not  for  Frenchmen  but  for  Spaniards 
I  thank  and  praise  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God,  that  I  have  found 
friends  if  not  countrymen,  and  that  I  see,  once  more,  the  faces 
of  a  Christian  people." 

Thus  ended    the  narrative  of  Le  Barbu,  or  the  Bearded  Man 
of  Calos. 


XVIII. 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY. 

WE  have  already  mentioned  that,  with  the  restoration  of 
Laudonniere  to  power,  and  the  complete  subjection  of  his 
mutineers,  he  resumed  by  degrees  his  projects  of  exploration  and 
discovery.  Among  other  places  to  which  he  sent  his  barks,  was 
the  territory  of  King  Audusta,  occupying  that  region  in  which 
Fort  Charles  had  been  erected  by  Ribault,  in  the  first  attempt  to 
colonize  in  the  country.  To  Audusta,  himself,  were  sent  two  suits 
of  apparel,  with  knives,  hatchets  and  other  trifles ;  "  the  better," 
as  Laudonniere  says,  "  to  insinuate  myselfe  into  his  friendship." 
To  render  this  hope  more  plausible,  "  I  sent  in  the  barke,  with 
Captaine  Vasseur,  a  souldier  called  Aimon,  which  was  one  of  those 
which  returned  home  in  the  first  voyage,  hoping  that  King 
Audusta  might  remember  him."  This  Aimon  was  instructed  to 
inquire  after  another  soldier  named  Rouffi,  who,  it  appears,  had 
preferred  remaining  in  the  country,  when  it  had  been  abandoned 
by  the  colonists  under  Nicolas  Barre. 

Audusta  received  his  visitors  with  great  favor, — sent  back  to 
Laudonniere  a  large  supply  of  "  mil,  with  a  certaine  quantity  of 
beanes,  two  stagges,  some  skinnes  painted  after  their  manner,  and 
certaine  pearles  of  small  value,  because  they  were  burnt."  The 


252  THE    LILY   AND    THE    TOTEM. 

old  chief  invited  the  Frenchmen  once  more  to  remove  and  plant 
in  his  territories.  He  proffered  to  give  him  a  great  country,  and 
would  always  supply  him  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  grain. 
Audusta  had  known  the  Frenchmen  almost  entirely  by  benefits 
and  good  fellowship.  The  period  of  this  visit  to  Audusta,  which 
was  probably  in  the  month  of  December,  is  distinguished  in  the 
chronicle  of  Laudonniere,  by  expressions  of  delightful  surprise  at 
the  number  of  stock  doves  (wild  pigeons)  which  came  about  the 
garrison — "in  so  greate  number,  that,  for  the  space  of  seven 
weekes  together,"  they  "  killed  with  harquebush  shot  at  least  two 
hundred  every  day."  This  was  good  feeding.  On  the  return  of 
Capt.  Vasseur  from  his  visit  to  Audusta,  he  was  sent  with  a  pre- 
sent u  unto  the  widow  of  Kinge  Hiocaia,  whose  dwelling  was 
distant  from  our  fort  about  twelve  leagues  northward.  She 
courteously  received  our  men,  sent  me  backe  my  barkes,  full  of 
mil  and  acornes,  with  certaine  baskets  full  of  the  leaves  of 
cassine,  wherewith  they  make  their  drinke.  And  the  place  where 
this  widow  dwelleth,  is  the  most  plentiful!  of  mil  that  is  in  all  the 
coast,  and  the  most  pleasante.  It  is  thought  that  the  queene  is 
the  most  beautifull  of  all  the  Indians,  and  of  whom  they  make  the 
most  account :  yea,  and  her  subjects  honour  her  so  much  that 
almost  continually  they  beare  her  on  their  shoulders,  and  will  not 
suffer  her  to  go  on  foot." 

The  visit  of  Laudonniere,  through  his  lieutenant,  was  returned, 
in  a  few  days,  by  the  beautiful  widow,  through  her  Hiatiqui, 
"  which  is  as  much  as  to  say,  her  Interpreter." 

Laudomnere  continued  his  explorations,  still  seeking  provisions, 
and  with  the  view  to  keeping  his  people  from  that  idleness  which 
hitherto  had  caused  such  injurious  discontents  in  his  garrison. 
His  barks  were  sent  up  May  River,  to  discover  its  sources,  and 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  253 

make  the  acquaintance  of  the  tribes  by  which  its  borders  were  oc- 
cupied. Thirty  leagues  beyond  the  place  called  Mathiaqua, 
"  thoy  discovered  the  entrance  of  a  lake,  upon  the  one  side 
whereof  no  land  can  be  seene,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
Indians,  which  had  oftentimes  climbed  on  the  highest  trees  in  the 
country  to  see  land,  and  notwithstanding  could  notdiscerne  any." 

These  few  sentences  may  assist  in  enabling  the  present  oc- 
cupants of  the  St.  John's  to  establish  the  location  along  that 
river,  at  the  period  of  which  we  write.  The  ignorance  of  the 
Indians  in  regard  to  the  country  opposite,  along  the  lake, 
indicates  equally  the  presence  of  numerous  tribes,  and  the  absence 
of  much  adventure  or  enterprise  among  them—results  that  would 
seem  equally  to  flow  from  the  productive  fertility  of  the  soil,  and 
the  abundance  of  the  game  in  the  country.  With  this  account  of 
it  as  a  terra  incognita,  the  explorers  ceased  to  advance.  In  re- 
turning, they  paid  a  visit  to  the  island  of  Edelano — one  of  those 
names  of  the  Indians,  which  harbors  in  the  ear  with  a  musical 
sweetness  which  commends  it  to  continued  utterance.  We  should 
do  well  to  employ  it  now  in  connection  with  some  island  spot  of 
rare  beauty  in  the  same  region. 

This  island  of  Edelano  is  "  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  river  ; 
as  fair  a  place  as  any  that  may  be  seene  thorow  the  world ;  for, 
in  the  space  of  some  three  leagues  that  it  may  containe,  in  length 
and  breadth,  a  man  may  see  an  exceedingly  rich  countrey  and 
marvellously  peopled.  At  the  coming  out  of  the  village  of 
Edelano,  to  goe  unto  the  river  side,  a  man  must  passe  thorow  an 
alley  about  three  hundred  paces  long  and  fifty  paces  broad ;  on 
both  sides  whereof  great  trees  are  planted,  the  boughes  whereof 
are  tied  [blended  ?]  together  like  an  arch,  and  meet  together  so 
artificially  [as  if  done  by  art]  that  a  man  would  thinke  it  were  an 


254  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

arbour  made  of  purpose,  as  faire,  I  say,  as  any  in  all  Christendom, 
although  it  be  altogether  naturall." 

Leaving  the  island  of  Edelano,  thus  equally  famous  for  its 
beauties  of  nature  and  name,  our  voyagers  proceeded  "to 
Eneguape,  then  to  Chilily,  from  thence  to  Patica,  and  lastly  they 
came  unto  Coya."  This  place  seems  to  have  been,  at  this  period, 
one  of  the  habitations  of  the  powerful  king  Olata  Utina.  In  the 
name  Olata,  we  find  an  affix  such  as  is  common  to  the  Seminoles 
and  Creeks  of  the  present  day.  Holata,  as  we  now  write  the 
word,  is  evidently  the  Olata  of  Laudonniere.  It  was  probably  a 
title  rather  than  a  name.*  Olata  Utina  received  his  visitors  with 
great  favor,  as  he  had  always  done  before  ;  and  six  of  them  were 
persuaded  to  remain  with  him,  in  order  the  better  to  see  the 
country,  while  their  companions  returned  to  La  Caroline.  Some 
of  these  remained  with  the  Indian  monarch  more  than  two  months. 
One  of  them,  named  Groutald,  a  gentleman  who  had  taken  great 
pains  in  this  exploration,  reported  4o  Laudonniere  that  he  had 
never  seen  a  fairer  country.  "  Among  other  things,  he  reported 
to  me  that  he  had  seene  a  place,  named  Hostaqua,  and  that  the 
king  thereof  was  so  mighty,  that  he  was  able  to  bring  three  or  four 
thousand  savages  into  the  field."  Of  this  king  we  have  heard 
before.  It  was  the  counsel  of  Monsieur  Groutald  to  Laudonniere 
that  he  should  unite  in  a  league  with  this  king,  and  by  this  means 
reduce  the  whole  country  into  subjection.  "  Besides,  that  this 
king  knew  the  passages  unto  the  mountaine  of  Apalatci,  which 
the  Frenchmen  desired  so  greatly  to  attaine  unto,  and  where  the 
enemy  of  Hostaqua  made  his  abode,  which  was  easie  to  be  sub- 
dued, if  so  be  wee  would  enter  into  league  together."  Hostaqua 

*  Holata  Mico  (or  Blue  King),  and  Holata  Amathla,  were  distinguished 
leaders  of  the  Seminoles  in  the  late  war  in  Florida. 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  255 

sent  to  Laudonniere  "  a  plate  of  a  minerall  that  came  out  of  this 
mountaine, — out  of  the  foote  whereof  " — such  was  the  glowing 
account  given  by  the  Indian  monarch — "  there  runneth  a  streams 
of  golde  or  copper."  The  process  by  which  the  red-men  obtain 
the  pure  treasures  of  this  golden  stream  was  an  exceedingly 
primitive  one,  and  reminds  us  of  the  simple  process  of  gathering 
golden  sands  in  California.  "  They  dig  up  the  sand  with  an 
hollow  and  drie  cane  of  reed,  until  the  cane  be  full ;  afterward 
they  shake  it,  and  find  that  there  are  many  small  graines  of 
copper  and  silver  among  this  sand ;  which  giveth  them  to  under- 
stand that  some  rich  mine  must  needs  be  in  the  mountaine." 
Laudonniere  is  greatly  impressed  by  this  intelligence,  "  and 
because  the  mountaine  was  not  past  five  or  six  days  journey  from 
our  fort,  lying  towards  the  north-west,  I  determined,  as  soone  as 
our  supply  should  come  out  of  France,  to  remove  our  habitation 
unto  some  river  more  towards  the  north,  that  I  might  be  nearer 
thereunto." 

An  incident,  which  occurred  al)out  this  time,  still  further  in- 
creased the  appetites  of  Laudonniere.  He  had  suffered,  and 
indeed  sent,  certain  favorite  soldiers  to  go  into  several  parts  of 
the  country,  among  the  savage  tribes  with  whom  he  kept  terms  of 
amnesty  and  favor,  in  order  that  they  should  acquire  as  well  a 
knowledge  of  the  Indian  language  as  of  the  country.  One  of 
these  was  named  Peter  Gambier.  This  man  had  rambled 
somewhat  farther  than  his  comrades.  He  had  shared  in  all  the 
more  adventurous  expeditions  of  the  Indians,  and  had  succeeded 
in  gathering  a  considerable  quantity  of  gold  and  silver,  all  of 
which  was  understood  to  have  been  directly  or  indirectly  from  the 
Indians,  who  dwelt  at  the  foot  of  the  Apalachian  Mountains. 
These  were  tribes  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  with  whom  the  Indian 


256  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM 

nations  along  the  sea-board  were  perpetually  at  war.  Full  of 
news,  and  burdened  with  his  treasure,  Peter  Gambier  prepared'  to 
return  to  La  Caroline.  He  had  made  his  way  in  safety  until  he 
reached  the  beautiful  island  with  the  beautiful  name,  Edelano, 
lying  in  the  midst  of  but  high  up  May  River.  On  the  same 
stream  which  was  occupied  by  his  countrymen,  in  force,  the 
thoughtless  soldier  conceived  himself  to  be  quite  safe.  He  was 
hospitably  entertained  by  the  chief  or  kmg  of  Edelano,  and  a 
canoe  was  accorded  him,  with  two  companions,  with  whom  to 
descend  the  river  to  the  fort.  But  the  improvident  Frenchman, 
allowed  his  precious  treasures  to  glitter  in  the  eyes  of  his  host. 
He  had  not  merely  gold  and  silver,  but  he  had  been  stocked  with 
such  European  merchandises  as  were  supposed  most  likely  to 
tempt  the  savages  to  barter.  A  portion  of  this  stock  remained 
in  his  possession.  The  natural  beauties  of  the  island  which  they 
occupied  had  not  softened  the  hearts  of  the  savages  with  any  just 
sense  of  humanity.  They  were  as  sensible  to  the  auri  sacra 
fames  as  were  the  Europeans,  and  just  as  little  scrupulous,  we 
shame  to  say  it,  in  gratifying  their  appetites  as  their  pale-faced 
visitors.  The  possessions  of  the  Frenchmen  were  sufficient  to 
render  the  Mico  of  Edelano  indifferent  to  all  considerations  of 
hospitality,  and  the  two  Indians  whom  he  lent  to  Gambier  were 
commissioned  to  take  his  life.  Thus,  accompanied  by  his  assas- 
sins, he  entered  the  canoe,  and  they  were  in  progress  down  the 
river,  when,  as  the  Frenchman  stooped  over  some  fish  which  he 
was  seething  in  the  boat,  the  red-men  seized  the  opportunity  to 
brain  him  with  their  stone  hatchets,  and  possess  themselves  of 
his  treasures.  When  the  tidings  came  to  Laudonniere,  he  was 
not  in  a  situation  to  revenge  the  crime  ;  but  the  large  acquisitions 
of  gold  and  silver  procured  by  his  soldier,  as  reported  to  him, 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  257 

confirmed  him  in  his  anxiety  to  penetrate  these  tantalizing 
realms,  in  which  the  rivers  ran  with  such  glittering  abundanae 
from  rocks  whose  caverns  promised  to  outvie  all  that  Arabian 
story  had  ever  fabled  of  the  magical  treasures  of  Aladdin. 

Scarcely  had  this  event  taken  place,  when  the  war  was  renewed 
between  Olata  Utina  and  Potanou.  The  former  applied  for 
assistance  to  Laudonniere,  who,  adopting  the  policy  of  the 
"  Spaniards,  when  they  were  imployed  in  their  conquests,  who 
did  alwayes  enter  into  alliance  with  some  one  king  to  ruine 
another,"  readily  sent  him  thirty  arquebusiers,  under  Lieutenant 
Ottigny.  These,  with  three  hundred  Indians,  led  by  Utina, 
penetrated  the  territories  of  Potanou,  and  had  a  severe  fight, 
which  lasted  for  three  hours,  with  the  people  of  that  potentate. 
"  Without  doubt,  Utina  had  been  defeated,  unlesse  our  harque- 
busiers  had  borne  the  burthen  and  brunt  of  all  the  battell,  and 
slaine  a  great  number  of  the  soldiers  of  Potanou,  upon  which  oc- 
casion they  were  put  to  flight."  The  lieutenant  of  the  French 
would  have  followed  up  the  victory,  but  Utina,  the  Paracoussi, 
had  gathered  laurels  quite  enough  for  a  single  day,  and  was 
anxious  to  return  home  to  show  his  scalps  and  enjoy  his  triumphs 
among  his  people.  His  tribes  and  villages  were  assembled  at  his 
return,  and,  for  several  days,  nothing  but  feasts,  songs  and 
dances,  employed  the  nation.  Ottigny  returned  to  the  fort,  after 
two  days  spent  in  this  manner  with  Utina,  and  his  return  was 
followed  by  visits  from  numerous  other  chiefs,  nearer  neighbors 
than  Utina,  and  enemies  of  that  savage,  who  came  to  expostulate 
with  Laudonniere  against  his  lending  succor  to  a  prince  who  was 
equally  faithless  and  selfish.  They,  on  the  other  hand,  entreated 
him  to  unite  with  them  in  the  destruction  of  one  who  was  a  com- 
mon enemy.  This  application  had  been  made  to  him  before  ; 


258  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

but  his  policy  had  been  rather  to  maintain  terms  of  alliance, 
offensive  and  defensive,  with  a  powerful  chieftain,  at  some  little 
distance,  than  to  depend  wholly  upon  others  more  near  at  hand. 
This  policy  was  again  drawn  from  that  of  the  Spaniard.  He  was 
soon  to  be  taught  how  little  was  the  reliance  which  he  could  place 
in  any  of  the  forest  tribes.  He  was  about  to  suffer  from  those 
deficiencies  and  evils  which  were  due  to  his  anxious  explorations 
of  the  country,  when  his  people  had  been  much  better  employed 
in  the  wholesome  labors  of  the  field,  in  the  very  eye  of  the 
garrison. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Indian  tribes,  after  the  gathering  and 
storing  away  of  their  harvests,  to  commence  hunting  with  the  first 
fall  of  the  leaves,  probably  about  the  middle  of  September.  The 
chase,  during  this  period,  was  seldom  such  as  to  carry  them  far 
from  the  fields  which  they  had  watched  during  the  summer. 
Near  at  hand,  for  a  season  at  least,  the  game  was  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  supply  their  wants.  But,  as  the  season  advanced, 
and  towards  the  months  of  January,  February  and  March,  they 
gradually  passed  into  the  deeper  thickets,  and  disappeared  from 
their  temporary  habitations.  During  this  period,  they  build  up 
new  abodes,  which  are  equally  frail,  in  the  regions  to*  which  they 
go,  and  which  are  contiguous  to  tho  hunting-grounds  which  they 
are  about  to  penetrate.  To  these  retreats  the  whole  tribe  retires ; 
and  hither  they  carry  all  the  commodities  which  are  valuable  in 
their  eyes.  Their  summer  dwellings  are  thus  as  completely 
stripped  as  if  the  region  were  abandoned  forever. 

This  removal,  for  which  their  previous  experience  should 
sufficiently  have  prepared  our  Frenchmen,  was  yet  destined  to 
have  for  them  some  very  pernicious  results.  We  have  seen  that 
certain  subsidies  of  corn  and  beans  had  been  procured  from 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  259 

various  tribes  and  nations  ;  enough,  according  to  Laudonniere,  to 
serve  them  until  the  arrival  of  expected  succors  from  France. 
But,  calculating  on  these  succors,  and  confident  of  their  arrival 
during  the  month  of  April,  our  Frenchmen  had  become  profligate 
of  their  stores.  April  found  them  straitened  for  provisions,  and 
not  an  Indian  could  be  seen.  April  passed  slowly  and  brought  no 
succor.  With  the  month  of  May  the  Indians  had  returned  to  their 
former  abodes  ;  but,  by  this  time,  their  remaining  stock  of  grain 
had  mostly  found  its  way  into  the  ground,  in  the  setting  of  ano- 
ther crop.  From  the  savages,  accordingly,  nothing  but  scanty 
supplies  of  fish  could  be  procured,  without  which,  says  Laudon- 
niere, "  assuredly  wee  had  perished  from  famine."  Of  the 
incompetence  of  this  captain,  and  the  wretched  order  which 
prevailed  among  his  garrison,  his  incapacity  and  other  incompe- 
tence, this  statement  affords  sufficient  proof.  They  neither  tilled 
the  earth  for  its  grain,  nor  sounded  the  river  for  its  finny  tribes ; 
though  these  realms  were  quite  as  much  under  their  dominion  as 
that  of  the  savages  ;  but  they  relied  solely  upon  this  capricious 
and  inferior  race,  hi  the  exploration  of  land  and  sea,  for  main- 
taining them  against  starvation. 

May  succeeded  to  April,  and  still  in  vain  did  our  Frenchmen 
look  forth  upon  the  sea,  for  the  ships  of  their  distant  countrymen. 
June  came,  and  their  wants  increased.  They  fell  finally  into 
famine,  of  which  Laudonniere  himself  affords  us  a  sufficiently  im- 
pressive picture. 

"  We  were  constrayned  to  eate  rootes,  which  the  most  part  of 
our  men  punned  in  the  mortars  which  I  had  brought  with  me  to 
beate  gunnepowder  in,  and  the  graine  which  came  to  us  from 
other  places.  Some  tooke  the  wood  of  esquine,  (?)  beate  it,  and 
made  meale  thereof,  which  they  boiled  with  water,  and  eate  it. 


260  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Others  went  with  their  harquebusies  to  seeke  to  kill  some  foule. 
Yea,  this  miserie  was  so  great,  that  that  one  was  founde  that  had 
gathered  up  all  the  fish-bones  that  he  could  finde,  which  he  dried 
and  beate  into  powder  to  make  bread  thereof.  The  effects  of 
this  hidious  famine  appeared  incontinently  among  us,  for  our  bones 
eftsoones  beganne  to  cleave  so  neare  unto  the  skinne,  that  the 
most  part  of  the  souldiers  had  their  skinnes  pierced  thorow  with 
them  in  many  partes  of  their  bodies,  in  such  sort  that  my  greatest 
feare  was,  least  the  Indians  would  rise  up  against  us,  considering 
that  it  would  have  beene  very  harde  for  us  to  have  defended  our- 
selves in  such  extreme  decay  of  all  our  forces,  besides  the  scarsitie 
of  all  vittualls,  which  fayled  us  all  at  once.  For  the  very  river 
had  not  such  plentie  of  fish  as  it  was  wont,  and  it  seemed  that 
the  very  land  and  water  did  fight  against  us."  In  this  condition 
were  they  till  the  beginning  of  June.  "  During  which  time," 
says  the  chronicler,  further — "the  poore  souldiers  and  handi- 
craftsmen became  as  feeble  as  might  be,  and  being  not  able  to 
worke,  did  nothing  but  goe,  one  after  another,  as  centinels,  unto 
the  clift  of  an  hill,  situate  very  neare  unto  the  fort,  to  see  if  they 
might  discover  any  French  ship." 

But  their  watchings  still  ended  with  disappointment.  Thus 
was  the  hope  with  which  the  heart  sickens,  deferred  too  long. 
No  ships  greeted  their  famishing  eyes,  and  they  at  length  appeal- 
ed to  their  commander,  in  a  body,  to  take  measures  for  returning 
to  France,  and  abandoning  the  colony, — "  considering  that  if  wee 
let  passe  the  season  to  embarke  ourselves,  wee  were  never  like  to 
gee  our  country ;"  and  alleging,  plausibly  enough,  that  new 
troubles  had  probably  broken  out  in  France,  which  was  the 
reason  that  they  had  failed  to  receive  the  promised  succors. 
Laudonniere  lent  an  easy  ear  to  their  demands.  He,  himself,  was 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  261 

probably  quite  as  sick  of  the  duties,  to  which  he  was  evidently 
unequal,  as  were  his  followers.  It  was,  perhaps,  prudent  to  sub- 
mit to  those  for  whom  he  could  no  longer  provide.  The  bark 
"  Breton"  was  fitted  up,  and  given  in  charge  to  Captain  Vasseur  ; 
and,  as  this  vessel  could  carry  but  a  small  portion  of  the  colony, 
it  was  determined  to  build  a  "  faire  ship,"  which  the  shipwrights 
affirmed  could  be  made  ready  by  the  8th  of  August.  u  Imme- 
diately I  disposed  of  the  time  to  worke  upon  it.  I  gave  charge  to 
Monsieur  de  Ottigny,  my  lieutenant,  to  cause  timber  necessary 
for  the  finishing  of  bothe  the  vessels  to  be  brought,  and  to  Mon- 
sieur D'Erlach,  my  standard-bearer,  to  goe  with  a  barke  a  league 
off  from  the  forte,  to  cut  down  trees  fit  to  make  plankes." 
Sixteen  men,  under  the  charge  of  a  sergeant,  were  set  "  to  labour 
in  making  coals ;  and  to  Master  Hance,  keeper  of  the  artillery," 
was  assigned  the  task  of  procuring  rosin  to  bray  the  vessels. 
"  There  remained  now  but  the  principal,  [object,]  which  was  to 
recover  vittualls,  to  sustain  us  while  the  worke  endured." 
Laudonniere,  himself,  undertook  to  seek  for  this  supply.  He 
embarked  with  thirty  men  in  the  largest  of  his  vessels,  with  the 
purpose  of  running  along  the  coast  for  forty  or  fifty  leagues.  But 
his  search  was  taken  in  vain.  He  procured  no  supplies.  He 
returned  to  the  fort  only  to  defraud  the  expectations  of  his  peo- 
ple, who  now  grew  desperate  with  hunger  and  discontent.  They 
assembled  together,  riotously,  and,  with  one  voice,  insisted  that 
the  only  process  by  which  to  extort  supplies  from  the  savages  was 
to  seize  upon  the  person  of  their  kings. 

To  this,  at  first,  Laudonniere  would  not  consent.  The  enter- 
prise was  a  rash  one.  The  consequences  might  be  evil,  in  regard 
to  any  future  attempts  at  settlement.  He  proposed  one  more  trial 
among  them,  and  sent  despatches  communicating  his  desire  to 


262  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

traffic  for  food  with  the  surrounding  tribes.  The  Indians  were 
not  averse  to  listen.  But  they  knew  the  distress  under  which 
the  Frenchmen  suffered,  and  were  prepared  to  turn  it  to  account. 
They  came  into  the  garrison  with  small  supplies  of  grain  and  fish, 
enough  to  provoke  appetite  rather  than  to  satisfy  it.  For  these 
they  demanded  such  enormous  prices,  as,  if  conceded,  would  have 
soon  exhausted  all  the  merchandise  of  the  garrison.  With  one 
hand  they  extended  their  produce,  while  the  other  was  stretched 
for  the  equivalent  required.  Knowing  the  desperation  of  the 
Frenchmen,  they  took  care,  while  thus  tantalizing  their  hopes  and 
hunger,  to  keep  out  of  reach  of  shot  of  arquebuse.  In  this  way, 
they  took  the  very  shirts  from  the  backs  of  the  starving  soldiers. 
When  Laudonniere  remonstrated  against  their  prices,  their 
answer  was  a  bitter  mockery. 

"  Very  good,"  said  the  savages,  "  if  thou  make  such  great 
account  of  thy  merchandise,  let  it  stay  thy  hunger.  Do  thou  eat 
of  it  and  we  will  eat  of  our  fish."  This  reply  would  be  cheered 
with  their  open-throated  laughter.  The  old  ally  of  the  French, 
the  Paracoussi  Utina,  mocked  them  in  like  manner.  His  subjects 
followed  his  example  ;  and,  in  the  end,  goaded  to  madness,  Lau- 
donniere resolved  on  adopting  the  course  which  his  people  had 
counselled ;  that,  by  which,  taking  one  of  their  kings  prisoner, 
food  could  be  extorted  for  his  ransom.  The  ingratitude  of  Utina, 
for  past  services,  a  recent  attempt  which  he  had  made  to  employ 
the  French  soldiers  in  his  own  conquests,  while  professing  to  lead 
them  only  where  they  should  find  provisions,  and  the  supposed 
extent  of  his  resources,  pointed  him  out  to  all  parties  as  the 
proper  person  upon  whom  to  try  the  experiment,  on  a  small  scale, 
which  Cortez  and  Pizzarro  had  used,  on  a  large  one,  in  the  con- 
quest of  Peru  and  Mexico. 


XIX. 


Of  the  captivity  of  the  Great  Paracoussi— Olata  Ouvae  Utina,  and  the  war  which  followed 
between  his  people  and  the  French. 

CHAPTER   I. 

It  being  determined  by  Laudonniere,  in  the  necessities  of  his 
people,  to  seize  upon  the  person  of  the  great  Paracoussi,  Olata 
Ouvae  Utina,  in  order,  by  the  ransom  which  he  should  extort,  to 
relieve  the  famine  which  prevailed  among  the  garrison,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  make  his  preparations  for  the  event.  Two  of  his 
barks  were  put  in  order  for  this  purpose,  and  a  select  body  of 
fifty  men  was  chosen  from  his  ranks  to  accompany  him  on  the 
expedition.  But  this  select  body,  though  the  very  best  men  of 
the  garrison,  exhibited  but  few  external  proofs  of  their  adequacy 
for  the  enterprise.  So  lean  of  flesh,  so  shrunk  of  sinew,  so 
hollow-eyed  were  they,  that  their  picture  recals  to  us  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  Shakspeare  of  the  famished  and  skeleton  regiments 
of  Henry  of  Monmouth  at  the  famous  field  of  Agincourt — l  A 
poor  and  starved  band,'  the  very  i  shales  and  husks  of  men,' 
with  scarcely  blood  enough  in  all  their,  veins,  to  stain  the 
Indian  hatchet,  which  they  travel  to  provoke.  But  famine 
endows  the  sinews  with  a  vigor  of  its  own.  Hunger  enforced  to 
the  last  extremities  of  nature,  clothes  the  spirit  of  the  man  in  the 


264  THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM. 

passions  of  the  wolf  and  tiger.  Lean  and  feeble  as  are  our 
Frenchmen,  they  are  desperate.  They  are  in  the  mood  to  brave 
the  forest  chief  in  his  fastnesses,  and  to  seize  upon  his  own  heart, 
in  the  lack  of  other  food.  The  very  desperation  of  their  case 
secures  them  against  any  misgivings. 

The  dominions  of  Holata  Utina  were  distant  from  La  Caroline, 
between  forty  and  fifty  leagues  up  the  river.  His  chief  town, 
where  he  dwelt,  lay  some  six  more  leagues  inland,  a  space  over 
which  our  Frenchmen  had  to  march.  Leaving  a  sufficent  guard 
in  their  vessels,  Laudonniere  and  his  company  landed  and  pro- 
ceeded in  this  quarter.  He  marched  with  caution,  for  he  knew 
his  enemy.  His  advance  was  conducted  by  Alphonse  D'Erlach, 
his  standard-bearer — one,  whose  experience  and  skill  had  been 
too  frequently  tried  to  leave  it  doubtful  that  his  conduct  would  bo 
a  safe  one.  He  had  traversed  the  space  before,  and  he  knew  the 
route  thoroughly.  The  progress  was  urged  with  as  much  secrecy 
as  caution.  The  cover  of  the  woods  was  carefully  maintained, 
the  object  of  the  party  being  a  surprise.  They  well  knew  that 
Utina  had  but  little  expectation  of  seeing  them,  at  this  juncture, 
in  his  own  abodes.  None,so  well  as  himself,knew  how  feeble  was 
their  condition,  how  little  competent  to  any  courageous  enter- 
prise. They  succeeded  in  appearing  at  the  village  of  the  chief 
without  provoking  alarm.  He  himself  was  at  home,  sitting  in 
state  in  the  royal  wigwam,  with  but  few  warriors  about  him. 
The  fashion  of  the  Indian,  with  less  royal  magnificence,  in  other 
words,  with  less  art  and  civilization — is  not  greatly  unlike  that  of 
the  Turk.  Olata  Utina  sat  crossed  legs  upon  a  dais  prepared  of 
dressed  skins  of  the  deer,  the  bear  and  panther.  The  spotted 
hides  hung  over  the  raised  portions  of  the  seat  which  he  kept, 
upon  which  also  might  be  seen  coverlets  of  cotton  ingeniously 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  265 

manufactured,  and  richly  stained  with  the  bright  crimson,  scarlet, 
and  yellow, of  native  dye-woods.  This  art  of  dyeing,  the  savages 
had  brought  to  a  comparatively  high  state  of  perfection.  His 
house  itself  stood  upon  an  artificial  eminence  of  earth,  raised  in 
the  very  centre  of  his  village,  and  overlooking  it  on  every  hand. 
It  was  an  airy  structure,  with  numerous  openings,  and  the  breeze 
played  sweetly  and  capriciously  among  the  coverlets  which  hung 
as  curtains  before  the  several  places  of  egress  and  entrance. 
Utina  himself  was  a  savage  of  noble  size  and  appearance.  He 
carried  himself  with  the  ease  and  dignity  of  one  born  to  the 
purple.  His  form,  though  an  old  man,  was  still  unbending  and 
tall.  His  countenance  was  one  of  great  spirit  and  nobleness. 
With  forehead  equally  large  and  high,  with  a  dark  eye  that 
flashed  with  all  the  fires  of  youth,  with  lips  that  opened  only  to 
discourse  in  tones  of  a  sweet  but  majestic  eloquence,  and  with  a 
shrewd  sagacity,  that  made  him,  among  a  cunning  people,  a 
recognised  master  of  all  the  arts  of  the  serpent,  he  was  necessa- 
rily a  person  to  impress  with  respect  and  admiration  those  eyeu 
who  came  with  hostility. 

It  is  probable  that  Utina  knew  nothing  of  the  approach  of  the 
Frenchmen,  until  it  was  too  late  to  escape  them.  But,  before 
they  entered  the  opened  space  assigned  to  the  settlement,  he  was 
advised  of  their  coming.  Then  it  was  that  he  threw  aside  his  do- 
mestic habit  and  assumed  his  state.  Then  it  was  that  he  resumed 
his  dignity  and  ascended  the  dais  of  stained  cotton  and  flowing 
deer-skin.  His  turban  of  purple  and  yellow  cotton  was  bound 
skilfully  about  his  brow,  his  bow  and  quiver  lay  beside  him,  while 
at  his  feet  was  extended  his  huge  macana,  or  war-club,  which  it 
scarcely  seemed  possible  that  his  aged  hands  should  now  grasp 
with  vigor  sufficient  for  its  formidable  use.  His  hands,  when  the 
12 


266  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Frenchmen  entered  the  dwelling,  held  nothing  more  formidable 
than  the  earthen  pipe,  and  the  long  tubulated  reed  which  he  busied 
himself  in  inserting  within  the  bowl.  Two  of  his  attendant  war- 
riors retired  at  the  same  moment.  These,  Laudonniere  did  not 
think  proper  to  arrest,  though  counselled  to  do  so  by  D'Erlach. 
He  knew  not  that  they  had  been  despatched  by  the  wily  Para- 
coussi  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  his  powers  for  resistance. 

Laudonniere  appeared  in  the  royal  wigwam  with  but  ten  com- 
panions. Forty  others  had  been  dispersed  by  D'Erlach  at  proper 
points  around  the  village.  Of  their  proximity  the  king  knew  no- 
thing. His  eye  took  in,  at  a  single  glance,  the  persons  of  his 
visitors  ;  and  a  slight  smile,  that  looked  derisive,  was  seen  to  over- 
spread his  visage.  It  was  with  something  like  good  humor  in  his  tones 
that  he  gave  them  welcome.  A  page  at  the  same  time  brought  forth 
a  basket  of  wicker-work,  which  contained  a  large  collection  of  pipes 
of  all  sorts  and  sizes.  Another  basket  afforded  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  dried  leaves  of  the  tobacco  and  vanilla.  The  Paracoussi 
nodded  to  his  guests  as  the  boy  presented  both  baskets,  and  Lau- 
donniere, with  two  others  of  his  company,  helped  themselves  to 
pipes  and  weed.  Thus  far  nothing  had  been  said  but  "  Ami,"  and 
"  Bonjour ."  The  welcome  of  the  Indians  was  simple  always,  and 
a  word  sufficed  among  them  as  amply  as  the  most  studied  and 
verbose  compliment.  The  French  had  learned  to  imitate  them  in 
this  respect,  to  be  sparing  of  words,  and  to  restrain  the  expression 
of  their  emotions,  particularly  when  these  indicated  want  or  suf- 
fering. 

But  the  necessities  of  our  Frenchmen  were  too  great  and  press- 
ing, at  the  present  time,  to  be  silenced  wholly  by  convention  ;  and 
when,  as  if  in  mockery,  a  small  trencher  of  parched  corn  was  set 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  267 

before  them,  with  a  vessel  of  water,  the  impatience  of  Laudonniere 
broke  into  utterance. 

"  Paracoussi  Utina,"  said  he,  "  you  have  long  known  the  want 
which  has  preyed  upon  our  people," 

"  My  brother  is  hungry,"  replied  Utina,  with  a  smile  more 
full  of  scorn  than  sweetness — "let  my  brother  eat.  Let  his 
young  men  eat.  There  is  never  famine  among  the  people  of 
Utina." 

"  And  if  there  be  no  want  among  the  people  of  Utina,  where- 
fore is  it  that  he  suffers  the  French  to  want  ?  Why  has  he  for- 
gotten his  allies  ?  Did  not  my  young  men  fight  the  battles  of 
Utina  against  the  warriors  of  the  mighty  Potanou?  Did  not 
many  captives  grace  the  triumph  of  Utina  ?  Has  the  Paracoussi 
forgotten  these  services  ?  Why  does  he  turn  away  from  his 
friends,  and  show  himself  cold  to  their  necessities  ?" 

"  Why  will  my  pale  brother  be  talking  ?"  said  the  other,  with 
a  most  lordly  air  of  indifference.  "  The  people  of  Utina  have 
fought  again&t  the  warriors  of  Potanou  for  more  than  a  hundred 
winters.  My  French  brother  is  but  a  child  in  the  land  of  the 
red-people.  What  does  he  know  of  the  triumphs  of  my  warriors  ? 
He  saw  them  do  battle  once  with  the  tribes  of  Potanou,  and  he 
makes  account  because  he  then  fought  on  behalf  of  my  people. 
My  people  have  fought  with  the  people  of  Potanou  more  than  a 
hundred  battles.  Our  triumphs  have  been  witnessed  by  every 
bird  that  flies,  every  beast  that  runs,  every  fish  that  swims,  be- 
tween the  villages  of  Potanou  and  the  strong  house  of  the  French- 
man where  he  starves  below.  What  more  will  our  pale  brother 
say,  being  thus  a  child  among  the  red-men  ?" 

"  Why  parley  with  the  savage  ?"  said  Alphonse  D'Erlach, 
"  if  you  mean  to  take  him  ?  I  care  not  for  his  insolence  which 


268  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

chafes  me  nothing  ;  but  we  lose  time.  You  have  suffered  some 
of  his  warriors  to  depart.  They  are  gone,  doubtless,  to  gather 
the  host  together.  We  shall  need  all  the  time  to  carry  ou* 
captive  safely  to  the  boats." 

These  words  were  spoken  aloud,  directly  in  the  rear  of  Utina. 
D'Erlach  having  taken  a  place  behind  him  in  the  conference.  The 
Paracoussi  was  startled  by  the  language.  Some  of  it  was  beyond 
his  comprehension.  But  he  could  not  misunderstand  the  tone 
and  manner  of  the  speaker.  D'Erlach  was  standing  above  him, 
with  his  hand  stretched  over  him,  and  ready  to  grasp  his  victim 
the  moment  the  word  should  be  spoken.  His  slight  form  and 
youthful  features,  contrasted  with  the  cold,  inflexible  expression 
of  his  eyes  and  face,  very  forcibly  impressed  the  imagination  of 
the  Indian  monarch,  as,  turning  at  the  interruption,  he  looked  up 
at  the  person  of  the  speaker.  But,  beyond  the  first  single  start 
which  followed  the  interruption,  Utina  gave  no  sign  of  surprise 
or  apprehension. 

"Awhile,  awhile,  Alphonse — be  not  too  hasty,  my  son  j"  was 
the  reply  of  Laudonniere.  He  continued,  addressing  himself  to 
the  Paracoussi : 

"  My  red  brother  thinks  he  understands  the  French.  He  is 
mistaken.  He  will  grow  wiser  before  he  grows  much  older.  But 
it  will  be  time  then  that  I  should  teach  him.  It  matters  now 
only,  that  I  should  say  to  the  Paracoussi  Utina,  we  want,  and 
you  have,  plenty.  We  have  fought  your  battles.  "We  are  your 
friends.  We  will  trade  with  you  for  mil  and  beanes.  Give  us 
of  these,  according  to  our  need,  and  you  shall  have  of  the  mer- 
chandize of  the  French  in  just  proportion.  Let  it  be  so,  brother, 
that  peace  may  still  nourish  between  our  people." 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  269 

"  There  is  mil  and  beanes  before  my  white  brother.  Let  him 
take  and  divide  among  his  people." 

"  But  this  will  not  suffice  for  a  single  meal.  Does  the  Para- 
coussi  laugh  to  scorn  the  sufferings  of  my  people  ?" 

u  The  Paracoussi  laughs  because  the  granaries  of  the  red-men 
are  full.  There  is  no  famine  among  his  people.  Hath  the  Great 
Spirit  written  that  the  red-man  shall  gather  food  in  the  proper 
season  that  the  white  man  may  sleep  like  the  drowsy  buffalo  in 
the  green  pasture  ?  Let  my  white  brother  drive  from  his  ear  the 
lying  bird  that  sings  to  him :  l  Sleep — take  thy  slumber  under 
the  pleasant  shade  tree,  while  the  people  of  Utina  get  thee 
food !' » 

"  Would  the  Paracoussi  make  the  Frenchmen  his  enemies  ?  Is 
their  anger  nothing  ?  Is  their  power  not  a  thing  to  be  feared  ?" 

"  And  what  is  the  Paracoussi  Olata  Ovae  Utina  ?  Hath  he  not 
many  thousand  warriors  ?  The  crane  that  rises  in  the  east  in  the 
morning,  though  he  flies  all  day,  compasses  not  the  land  at  sun- 
set, which  belongs  to  my  dominions.  East  and  west  my  people 
whoop  like  the  crane,  and  hear  no  birds  that  answer  but  their 
own.  Let  my  pale  brother  hush,  for  he  speaks  a  foolish  thing 
of  his  warriors.  Did  I  dream,  or  did  any  runners  tell  me  that 
the  bones  of  the  Frenchmen  break  through  the  skin,  lacking  food, 
and  their  sinews  are  so  shrunken  that  they  can  never  more  strive 
in  battle  ?  Who  shall  fear  them  ?  I  had  pity  on  my  brother 
when  I  heard  these  things.  I  sent  him  food,  and  bade  my  people 
say — '  take  this  food  which  thou  needest ;  the  great  Paracoussi 
asks  for  nothing  in  recompense,  but  thy  guns,  thy  swords,  and 
thy  lances ;  weapons  which  they  tell  me  thou  hast  strength  to  use 
no  longer." 

"  Did  they  tell  thee  so,  Utina  ?     But  thou  shalt  see.     Once 


270  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

more,  my  brother,  I  implore  thee  to  give  us  of  thy  abundance, 
and  we  will  cheerfully  impart  to  thee  from  our  store  of  knives, 
reap-hooks,  hatchets,  mirrors,  and  lovely  beads,  such  as  will 
delight  thy  women.  Here,  behold, — this  is  some  of  the  treasure 
which  I  have  brought  thee  for  the  purposes  of  barter." 
,  The  lordly  chieftain  deigned  not  a  single  glance  to  the  Euro- 
pean wares,  which,  at  a  word  from  Laudonniere,  one  of  the 
French  soldiers  laid  at  his  feet.  The  French  captain,  as  if  lotli 
to  proceed  to  extremities,  continued  to  entreat ;  while  every  new 
appeal  was  only  answered,  on  the  part  of  the  savage  prince,  with 
a  new  speech  of  scorn,  and  new  gestures  of  contempt.  At  length, 
Laudonniere's  patience  was  exhausted,  and  he  gave  the  signal 
which  had  been  agreed  upon  with  his  lieutenant.  In  the  next 
moment,  the  quick  grasp  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  was  laid  upon 
the  Paracoussi's  shoulders.  He  attempted  to  rise,  and  to  grasp, 
at  the  same  time,  the  macana  which  lay  at  his  feet.  But  D'Er- 
lach kept  him  down  with  his  hands,  while  his  foot  was  struck 
down  upon  the  macana.  In  that  moment,  the  war-conch  was 
sounded  at  the  entrance  by  several  Indians  who  had  been  in  wait- 
ing. It  was  caught  up  and  echoed  by  the  bugles  of  D'Erlach ; 
the  blast  of  which  had  scarcely  been  heard  throughout  the  village, 
before  it  had  been  replied  to,  four  several  times,  from  as  many 
different  points  where  the  French  force  had  been  stationed,  ten 
soldiers  in  each.  One  desperate  personal  struggle  which  the 
Paracoussi  made,  proved  fruitless  to  extricate  him  from  the  grasp 
of  his  captor ;  and  he  then  sat  quietly,  without  a  word,  coldly 
looking  his  enemies  in  the  face. 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  271 

CHAPTER      II. 

THE  captive  Paracoussi  lost  none  of  his  dignity  in  his  capti- 
vity. He  scorned  entreaty.  He  betrayed  no  symptom  of  fear. 
That  he  felt  the  disgrace  which  had  been  put  upon  him,  was  evi- 
dent in  the  close  compression  of  his  lips  ;  but  he  was  sustained  by 
the  secret  conviction  that  his  warriors  were  gathering,  and  that 
they  would  rescue  him  from  his  captors  by  the  overwhelming 
force  of  their  numbers.  At  first  his  stoicism  was  shared  by  his 
family  and  attendants ;  but  when  Laudonniere  declared  his  pur- 
pose to  remove  his  prisoner  to  the  boats,  then  the  clamors  of 
women,  not  less  eloquent  in  the  wigwam  of  the  savage,  than  in 
the  household  of  the  pale  faces,  became  equally  wild  and  general. 
The  Paracoussi  had  but  one  wife,  foregoing,  in  this  respect, 
some  of  his  princely  privileges,  to  which  the  customs  of  the  red- 
men  afforded  a  sufficient  sanction.  But  there  were  many  females 
in  the'  royal  dwelling,  all  of  whom  echoed  the  tumultuous  cries  of 
of  its  mistress.  This  devoted  woman,  with  her  attendants, 
accompanied  the  captive  to  the  boats,  where,  following  the  pre- 
cautions adopted  by  D'Erlach,  the  Frenchmen  arrived  in  safety. 
The  warriors  of  the  red-men  had  not  yet  time  to  gather  and 
array  themselves.  Laudonniere  gave  the  women  and  immediate 
companions  of  the  Paracoussi  to  understand  that  his  purpose  was 
not  to  do  his  captive  any  injury.  The  French  were  hungry  and 
must  have  food.  When  a  sufficient  supply  was  brought  them, 
Olata  Utina  should  be  set  free. 

But  these  assurances  they  did  not  believe.  They  themselves, 
seldom  set  free  their  captives.  Ordinarily,  they  slew  all  their 
male  prisoners  taken  by  surprise  or  in  war,  reserving  the  young 
females  only.  They  naturally  supposed,  that  what  was  the 


272  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

custom  with  them,  founded  upon  sufficient  reasons,  at  once  of 
fear  and  superstition,  must  be  the  custom  with  the  white  men 
also.  Accordingly,  the  queen  of  Utina,  was  not  to  be  comforted. 
She  followed  him  to  the  river  banks,  clinging  to  him  to  the  last, 
and  stood  there  ringing  her  hands  and  filling  the  air  with  her 
shrieks,  while  the  people  of  Laudonniere  lifted  him  into  the  bark, 
and  pushed  out  to  the  middle  of  the  river.  It  was  well  for  them 
that  this  precaution  was  taken.  The  warriors  of  the  Paracoussi 
were  already  gathering  in  great  numbers.  More  than  five  hun- 
dred of  them  showed  themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  en- 
treating of  Laudonniere  to  draw  nigh  that  they  might  behold 
their  prince.  They  brought  tidings  that,  taking  advantage  of  his 
captivity,  the  inveterate  Potanou  had  suddenly  invaded  his  chief 
village,  had  sacked  and  fired  it,  destroying  all  the  persons  whom 
he  encountered.  But  Laudonniere  was  properly  suspicious, .  and 
soon  discovered,  that,  while  five  hundred  archers  showed  them- 
selves to  him  as  suppliants,  the  shores  were  lined  with  thrice  five 
hundred  in  snug  ambush,  lying  close  for  the  signal  of  attack. 
Failing  to  beguile  the  Frenchmen  to  the  land,  a  few  of  them,  in 
small  canoes,  ventured  out  to  the  bark  in  which  their  king  was 
a  prisoner,  bringing  him  food — meal  and  peas?  and  their  favorite 
beverage,  the  cassina  tea.  Small  supplies  were  brought  to  the 
Frenchmen  also ;  but  without  softening  their  hearts.  Laudon- 
niere had  put  his  price  upon  the  head  of  his  captive,  and  would 
'bate  nothing  of  his  ransom. 

But  it  so  happened,  that  the  Indians  were  quite  as  suspicious 
and  inflexible  as  the  Frenchmen.  They  believed  that  Laudon- 
niere only  aimed  to  draw  from  them  their  stores,  and  then 
destroy  their  sovereign.  A  singular  circumstance,  illustrative  of 
the  terrible  relations  in  which  all  savage  tribes  must  stand  toward 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  273 

each  other,  even  when  they  dwell  together  in  near  neighborhood, 
occurred  at  this  time,  and  increased  the  doubts  and  fears  of 
the  people  of  Utina.  As  soon  as  it  was  rumored  about  that  this 
mighty  potentate,  whom  they  all  so  much  dreaded,  was  a  prisoner 
to  the  white  man,  the  chiefs  of  the  hostile  tribes  gathered  to  the 
place  of  his  captivity,  as  the  inhabitant  of  the  city  goes  to  behold 
in  the  menagerie  the  great  lion  of  Sahara,  the  lord  of  the  desert, 
of  whom,  when  free  in  his  wild  ranges,  it  shook  their  hearts  only 
to  hear  the  roar.  With  head  erect,  though  with  chains  about  his 
limbs, — with  heart  haughty,  though  with  hope  humbled  to  the 
dust— the  proud  Paracoussi  sate  unmoved  while  they  gathered, 
gazing  upon  him  with  a  greedy  malice  that  declared  a  long  history 
of  scorn  and  tyranny  on  the  one  hand,  and  hate  and  painful  sub- 
mission on  the  other.  They  walked  around  the  lordly  savage, 
scarcely  believing  their  eyes,  and  still  with  a  secret  fear,  lest,  in 
some  unlucky  moment,  he  should  break  loose  from  his  captivity, 
and  resume  his  weapon  for  the  purposes  of  vengeance.  Eagerly 
and  earnestly  did  they  plead  with  Laudonniere  either  to  put  him 
to  death,  or  to  deliver  him  to  their  tender  mercies.  Among 
those  who  came  to  see  and  triumph  over  his  ancient  enemy,  and, 
if  possible,  to  get  him  into  his  power,  was  the  Paracoussi  Satou- 
riova,  one  of  Laudonniere's  first  acquaintances,  whose  power, 
perhaps,  along  the  territories  of  May  River,  was  only  next  to  that 
of  Utina.  He,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  chiefs,  brought  bribes 
of  maize  and  beans,  withheld  before,  in  order  to  persuade  Lau- 
donniere to  yield  to  their  desires.  In  this  way  he  procured  sup- 
plies, much  beyond  those  which  were  furnished  by  the  people  of 
the  prisoner,  though  still  greatly  disproportioned  to  his  wants. 
The  people  of  Utina,  mean  while,  persuaded  that  their  monarch 
could  not  escape  the  sacrifice,  and  aware  of  the  several  and  strong 
12* 


THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

influences  brought  to  bear  upon  his  captors,  proceeded  to  do  that 
which  was  likely  to  defeat  all  the  hopes  and  calculations  of  the 
French.  Their  chiefs  assembled  in  the  Council  House,  assuming 
that  Utina  was  dead  already,  and  elected  another  for  their  sove- 
reign, from  among  his  sons.  The  measure  was  a  hasty  one,  ill 
considered,  and  promised  to  lead  to  consequences  the  most  inju- 
rious to  the  nation.  The  new  prince  immediately  took  possession 
of  the  royal  wigwam,  and  began  the  full  assertion  of  his  authority. 
Parties  were  instantly  formed  among  the  tribes,  from  among  the 
many  who  were  dissatisfied  with  this  assumption,  and,  but  for  the 
great  efforts  of  the  nobles  of  the  country,  the  chiefs,  the  affair 
would  have  found  its  finish  in  a  bloody  social  war ;  since,  already 
had  one  of  the  near  kinsmen  of  Olato  Utina  set  up  a  rival  claim 
to  the  dominion  of  his  people. 

But,  it  was  sufficient  that  the  election  of  the  son  of  their  cap- 
tive, to  the  throne  of  his  father,  rendered  unavailing  the  bold 
experiment  of  the  Frenchmen,  and  threatened  to  defeat  all  the 
hopes  which  they  had  founded  on  the  securing  his  person.  The 
savages  had  adopted  the  most  simple  of  all  processes,  and  the 
most  satisfactory,  by  which  to  baffle  the  invaders.  Olata  Utina 
was  an  old  man,  destined,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  to  give 
way  in  a  short  time  to  the  very  successor  they  had  chosen.  Why 
should  they  make  any  sacrifices  to  procure  the  freedom  of  one 
whom  they  did  not  need.  Their  reverence  for  royalty  in  exile 
was  hardly  much  greater  than  it  is  found  to-day  in  civilized 
Europe ;  and  they  resigned  themselves  to  the  absence  of  Olata 
Utina  with  a  philosophy  duly  proportioned  to  the  quantities  of 
corn  and  peas  which  they  should  save  by  the  happy  thought 
which  had  already  found  a  successor  to  his  sway.  In  due  degree 
with  their  resignation  to  the  chapter  of  accidents,  however,  was 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  275 

the  mortification  of  our  Frenchmen,  who  thus  found  themselves 
cut  off  from  all  the  hopes  which  they  had  built  upon  their  bold 
proceeding.  They  had  made  open  enemies  of  a  powerful  race, 
without  reaping  those  fruits  of  their  offence,  which  might  have 
reconciled  them  to  its  penalties.  Still  they  suffered  in  camp  as 
well  as  in  garrison,  from  want  of  food,  and  were  allowed  to  enter- 
tain no  expectations  from  the  anxieties  of  the  savages  in  regard  to 
the  fate  of  the  captive  monarch.  His  importance  naturally 
declined  in  the  elevation  of  his  successor.  Whether  governed  by 
policy  or  indifference,  his  people  betrayed  but  little  sympathy  in 
his  condition ;  and  though  keeping  him  still  in  close  custody, 
treating  him  with  kindness  the  while,  Laudonniere  was  compelled 
to  seek  elsewhere  for  provisions.  Apprised  by  certain  Indians 
that,  in  the  higher  lands  above,  but  along  the  river,  there  were 
some  fields  of  maize  newly  ripening,  he  took  a  detachment  of 
his  men  in  boats  and  proceeded  thither.  Coming  to  a  village 
called  Enecaque,  he  was  hospitably  entertained  by  the  sister  of 
Utina,  by  whom  it  was  governed.  She  gave  him  good  cheer,  a 
supper  of  mil,  beans,  and  fish,  with  gourds  of  savory  tea,  made 
of  cassina.  Here  it  was  found  that  the  maize  was  indeed  ripe : 
but  the  hungry  Frenchmen  suffered  by  the  discovery  and  their 
own  rapacity.  They  fastened  upon  it  in  its  fresh  state,  without 
waiting  for  the  slow  process  of  cooking,  to  disarm  it  of  its  hurtful 
juices,  and  they  became  sick  accordingly.  Yet  how  could  men 
be  reproached  for  excess,  who  had  scarcely  eaten  for  four  days, 
and  for  whom  -a  portion  of  the  food  that  silenced  hunger  during 
this  time,  consisted  of  a  dish  of  young  puppies  newly  whelped. 

While  on  this  expedition,  it  occurred  to  Laudonniere  to 
revenge  upon  the  lord  of  Edelano,  the  cruel  murder  of  his  soldier, 
Peter  Gambier,  whose  story  has  been  given  in  previous  pages. 


276  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

He  was  now  drawing  nigh  to  that  beautiful  island;  and  after 
leaving  Enecaque,  he  turned  his  prows  in  search  of  its  sweet 
retreats.  But,  with  all  his  caution,  the  bird  had  flown.  The 
lord  of  Edelano  had  been  advised  of  what  he  had  to  fear,  and,  at 
the  approach  of  the  Frenchmen  he  disappeared,  crossing  the 
stream  between,  to  the  opposite  forests,  and  leaving  his  village  at 
the  mercy  of  the  enemy.  Baffled  of  their  revenge  upon  the 
offender,  the  Frenchmen  vented  their  fury  upon  his  empty 
dwellings.  The  torch  was  applied  to  the  village,  which  was  soon 
consumed.  Returning  to  Enecaque,  Laudonniere  swept  its  fields 
of  all  their  grain,  with  which  he  hastened  back  to  his  starving 
people  at  La  Caroline.  These,  famishing  still,  "  seeing  me 
afar  off  coming,  ranne  to  that  side  of  the  river  where  they  thought 
I  would  come  on  land ;  for  hunger  so  pinched  them  to  the  heart, 
that  they  could  not  stay  until  the  victuals  were  brought  them  to 
the  fort.  And  that  they  well  showed  as  soon  as  I  was  come,  and 
had  distributed  that  little  maize  among  them  which  I  had  given 
to  each  man,  before  I  came  out  of  the  barke ;  for  they  eate  it 
before  they  had  taken  it  out  of  the  huske." 

The  necessity  of  the  garrison  continued  as  great  as  ever.  The 
wretched  fields  of  the  red-men  afforded  very  scanty  supplies. 
Other  villages  were  sought  and  ransacked,  those  of  Athore, 
swayed  by  King  Emola,  and  those  of  a  Queen  named  Nia  Cuba- 
cani.  In  ravaging  the  fields  of  the  former,  two  of  the  French- 
men were  slain.  But  the  provisions  got  from  Queen  Nia  Cubacani, 
were  all  free  gifts.  a  The  pale  faces  seem  to  have  been  favorites 
with  the  female  sovereigns  wherever  they  went.  In  the  adventures 
of  the  Huguenots,  as  in  those  of  the  Spaniards  under  Hernan  de 
Soto  and  other  chiefs,  the  smiles  of  the  Apalachian  women 
seemed  to  have  been  bestowed  as  freely  as  were  the  darts  and 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  277 

arrows  of  their  lords  and  masters.  In  this  way  was  the  path  of 
enterprise  stripped  of  many  of  its  thorns,  and  he  whose  arm  was 
ever  lifted  against  the  savage  man,  seldom  found  the  heart  of  the 
savage  woman  shut  against  his  approach.  This  is  a  curious  his- 
tory, but  it  seems  to  mark  usually  the  fortunes  of  the  superior, 
invading  the  abodes  of  the  inferior  people.  The  women  of  a 
race  are  always  most  capable  of  appreciating  the  social  morals  of 
a  superior 

The  Paracoussi  Olata  Utina,  now  made  an  effort  to  obtain  his 
liberty.  The  hopes  of  the  Frenchmen,  in  respect  to  his  ransom, 
had  failed.  His  people  had  shown  a  stubbornness,  which,  to  do 
the  Indian  monarch  justice,  had  not  been  greater  than  his  own. 
He  saw  the  poverty  and  distress  which  prevailed  among  his 
captors,  in  spite  of  all  their  attempts  at  concealment.  He  saw 
that  the  lean  and  hungry  famine  was  still  preying  upon  their 
hearts.  He  said  to  Laudonniere — 

"  Of  what  avail  is  it  to  you  or  to  me,  that  you  hold  me  here  a 
captive  ?  Take  me  to  my  people.  The  maize  is  probably 
ripened  in  my  fields.  One  of  these  shall  be  set  aside  for  your 
use  wholly,  with  all  its  store  of  corn  and  beans,  if  you  will  set  me 
free  in  my  own  country." 

Laudonniere  consulted  with  his  chief  men.  They  concurred 
in  granting  the  petition  of  the  Paracoussi.  The  two  barks  were 
accordingly  fitted  out,  and,  with  a  select  detachment,  Laudon- 
niere proceeded  with  his  captive  to  a  place  called  Patica,  some 
eight  or  nine  leagues  distant  from  the  village  of  Utina.  The  red- 
men  fled  at  their  approach,  seeking  cover  in  the  forests,  though 
their  king,  himself,  cried  to  them  to  await  his  coming.  To 
pursue  them  was  impossible.  To  trust  the  king  out  of  their  pos- 
session, without  any  equivalent,  was  impolitic.  Another  plan  was 


278  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

pursued.  One  of  the  sons  of  the  Paracoussi,  a  mere  boy,  had 
been  taken  with  his  father.  It  was  now  determined  to  dismiss 
this  boy  to  the  village,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  Frenchmen, 
who  had  been  thither  before,  and  who  knew  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  country.  His  instructions  were  to  restore  the 
boy  to  his  mother  and  his  kindred,  and  to  say  that  his  father 
should  be  delivered  also,  if  an  adequate  supply  of  provisions  was 
brought  to  the  vessel.  The  ancient  chronicle,  briefly,  but  very 
touchingly,  describes  the  welcome  which  was  given  to  the  enfran- 
chised child.  All  were  delighted  to  behold  him,  the  humblest 
making  as  much  of  him  as  if  he  had  been  the  nearest  kindred, 
and  each  man  thinking  himself  never  so  happy  as  when  permitted 
to  touch  him  with  his  hand.  The  wife  of  Utina,  with  her  father, 
came  to  the  barks  of  the  Frenchmen,  bringing  bread  for  the 
present  wants  of  the  company  ;  but  the  policy  of  the  Indians  did 
not  suffer  the  pleadings  of  the  woman  to  prevail.  The  parties 
could  not  agree  about  the  terms  of  ransom ;  the  red-men,  mean- 
while, practised  all  their  arts  to  delay  the  departure  of  the  vessels. 
It  was  discovered  that  they  were  busy  with  their  forest  strategy, 
seeking  rather  to  entrap  the  captain  of  the  French,  than  to  bar- 
gain for  the  recovery  of  their  own  chieftain.  Laudonniere  was 
compelled  finally  to  return  with  his  prisoner  to  La  Caroline,  as 
hungry  as  ever,  and  with  no  hopes  of  the  future. 

Here,  a  new  danger  awaited  the  captive.  Furious  at  their 
disappointment,  the  starving  Frenchmen,  as  soon  as  the  failure  of 
the  enterprise  was  known,  armed  themselves,  and  with  sword  and 
matchlock  assailed  the  little  cavalcade  which  had  the  chief  in 
custody,  as  they  were  about  to  disembark.  With  gaunt  visages 
and  staring  eyes,  that  betrayed  terribly  the  cruel  famine  under 
which  they  were  perishing,  and  cries  of  such  terrible  wrath,  as 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  279 

left  but  little  doubt  of  the  direst  purpose,  they  darted  upon  their 
prey.  But  Laudonniere  manfully  interposed  himself,  surrounded 
by  his  best  men,  between  their  rage  and  his  victim.  Captain  La 
Vasseur  and  Ensign  D'Erlach,  each  seized  upon  a  mutineer  whom 
they  held  ready  to  slay  at  a  stroke  given ;  and  other  good  men 
and  true,  coming  to  the  rescue,  the  famishing  mutineers  were 
shamed  and  frightened  into  forbearance.  But  bitterly  did  they 
complain  of  the  lack  of  wisdom  in  their  captain,  who  had  released 
the  son,  the  precious  hope  of  the  nation,  retaining  the  sire,  *'v 
whom,  having  a  new  king,  the  savages  cared  nothing.  Their 
murmurs  drove  Laudonniere  forth  once  more.  Taking  the  Para- 
coussi  with  him,  after  a  brief  delay,  he  proceeded  to  explore 
other  villages  along  the  river.  The  red-men  planted  two  crops 
during  the  growing  season.  Their  maize  ripened  gradually,  and 
fields  that  yielded  nothing  during  one  month,  were  in  full  grain  in 
that  ensuing.  For  fifteen  days  the  French  commandant  con- 
tinued his  explorations  with  small  success  ;  when  the  Paracoussi, 
whom  nothing  had  daunted,  of  his  proper  and  haughty  firmness, 
during  all  his  captivity,  once  more  appealed  to  his  captors  : 

"  That  my  people  did  not  supply  you  with  maize  and  beanes 
when  you  sought  them  last,  was  because  they  were  not  ripe>  I 
spake  to  you  then  as  a  foolish  young  man,  anxious  to  set  foot  once 
more  among  my  people.  I  should  have  known  that  the  grain 
could  not  be  ready  then  for  gathering.  But  the  season  is  now 
It  is  ripened  everywhere,  and,  in  the  present  abundance  of  my 
people,  they  will  gladly  yield  to  your  demands,  and  give  full  ran- 
som for  their  king.  Take  me  thither  then,  once  more,  and  my 
people  will  not  stick  to  give  you  ample  victual." 

The  necessities  of  the  French  were  too  great  to  make  them  hesi- 
tate at  a  renewal  of  the  attempt,  where  all  others  had  proved  so 


280  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

profitless ;  particularly  when  the  old  king,  with  some  solemnity, 
placing  his  hand  upon  the  wrist  of  the  French  captain,  said  to 
him — 

"  Brother,  doubt  me  not — doubt  not  my  people.  If  they  an- 
swer thee  not  to  thy  expectations  as  well  as  mine,  bring  me  back 
to  thy  people,  and  let  them  do  with  me  even  as  they  please  ?" 

Again  was  the  Paracoussi  brought  into  the  presence  of  his  sub- 
jects. They  assembled  to  meet  him  on  the  banks  of  a  little  river, 
which  emptied  into  the  main  stream,  and  to  which  Laudonniere 
had  penetrated  in  his  vessels.  They  appeared  with  considerable 
supplies  of  bread,  fish  and  beans,  which  they  shared  among  the 
Frenchmen.  They  put  on  the  appearance  of  great  good  feeling 
and  friendship,  and  entered  into  the  negotiations  for  the  release  of 
their  king,  with  equal  frankness  and  eagerness.  But  in  all  this 
they  exhibited  only  the  consummate  hypocrisy  of  their  race  ; — a 
hypocrisy  not  to  be  wondered  at  or  complained  of,  as  it  is  the 
only  natural  defence  which  a  barbarous  people  can  ever  possibly 
oppose  to  the  superior  power  of  civilization.  Their  effort  was 
simply  still  so  to  beguile  the  Frenchmen,  as  to  ensnare  their 
leader, — get  him  within  their  power,  and  then  compel  an  exchange 
with  his  people  of  chief  for  chief.  For  this  purpose  they  pro- 
longed the  negotiations.  Small  supplies  of  food,  enough  to  pro- 
voke expectation,  without  satisfying  demand,  were  brought  daily 
to  their  visitors.  But,  in  the  meantime, their  warriors  began  to 
accumulate  along  the  shores,  covered  in  the  neighboring  thickets, 
or  crouching  in  patient  watch  along  the  reedy  tracts  that  fringed 
the  river.  The  vigilant  eye  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  soon  de- 
tected the  ambush ;  and  at  length,  finding  Laudonniere  prepar- 
ing to  leave  them,  still  keeping  their  king  a  captive,  the  savages 


CAPTIVIT^    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  281 

resumed  their  negotiations  with  more  activity,  and  withdrew  their 
archers  from  the  neighborhood. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  their  love  for  their  monarch  was 
small,  because  they  showed  themselves  so  slow  in  bringing  the 
humble  ransom  of  corn  and  beans,  which  the  French  demanded. 
To  them,  that  ransom  was  by  no  means  insignificant.  It  swept 
their  granaries.  It  took  the  food  from  their  children.  It  drove 
them  into  the  woods  in  winter  without  supplies,  leaving  them  to 
the  rigors  of  the  season,  the  uncertainties  of  the  chase,  and  with 
no  other  dependence  than  the  common  mast  of  the  forest.  It  de- 
prived them  of  the  very  seed  from  which  future  harvests  were  to 
be  gathered.  The  drain  for  the  supply  of  the  hungry  mouths  at 
La  Caroline,  seemed  to  them  perpetual,  and  Laudonniere  aimed 
now  not  only  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  present,  but  to  store  ships 
and  fort  against  future  necessities.  It  was  of  the  last  impor- 
tance to  the  people  of  Olata  Utina,  that  they  should  recover  their 
king  without  subjecting  their  people  to  the  horrors  of  such  a 
famine  as  was  preying  upon  the  vitals  of  the  Frenchmen. 

They  over-reached  Laudonniere  at  last.  They  persuaded  him 
that  the  presence  of  the  king,  among  his  people,  was  necessary 
to  compel  each  man  to  bring  in  his  subsidy ; — that  they  must  see 
him,  in  his  former  abodes,  freed  entirely  from  bonds,  before  they 
would  recognize  his  authority  ; — that  they  feared,  when  they 
should  have  brought  their  grain,  that  the  French  would  still  re- 
tain their  captive ; — and,  in  short,  insisted  so  much  upon  the 
freedom  of  Utina,  as  the  sine  qua  non,  that  the  doubts  of  Lau- 
donniere were  overcome.  It  was  agreed  that  two  chiefs  should 
become  hostages  for  Olata  Utina,  and,  in  guaranty  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  pledges. 

We  are  not  told  of  the  exact  amount  of  ransom  required  for 


. 

282  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  surrender  of  their  king.  It  was  probably  enormous,  according 
to  the  equal  standards  of  Indian  and  Frenchmen,  in  this  period 
and  region.  Willingly  came  the  two  chiefs  to  take  the  place  of 
Olata  Utina.  They  were  admitted  on  board  the  bark,  where  he 
was  kept  in  chains.  They  were  warriors,  and  as  they  approached 
him,  they  broke  their  bows  and  arrows  across,  and  threw  them 
before  him  :  Then,  as  they  beheld  his  bonds,  they  rushed  to  his 
feet,  lifted  up  and  kissed  his  chains,  and  supported  them,  while 
the  Frenchmen  unlocked  them  from  the  one  captive  to  transfer 
them  to  the  hands  and  feet  of  those  who  came  to  take  his  place. 
These  looked  not  upon  the  bonds  as  they  were  riveted  about  their 
limbs.  They  only  watched  the  movements  of  their  king  with 
eyes  that  declared  a  well-satisfied  delight.  He  rose  from  -his 
place,  and  shook  himself  slowly,  as  a  lion  might  be  supposed  to 
do,  rousing  himself  after  sleep.  Never  was  head  so  erect,  or  car- 
riage so  like  one  who  feels  all  his  recovered  greatness.  He  waved 
his  hand  in  signal  to  the  shore,  where  hundreds  of  his  people 
were  assembled  to  greet  his  deliverance. 

The  signal  was  understood,  a  mantle  of  fringed  and  gorgeously- 
dyed  cotton  was  brought  him  by  one  of  his  sons.  His  macana, 
or  war-club,  and  a  mighty  bow  from  which  he  could  deliver  a 
shaft  more  than  five  English  feet  in  length,  were  also  brought 
him.  Over  his  shoulder  the  mantle  was  thrown  by  one  of  his  at- 
tendants. The  war-club  was  carried  before  him  by  a  page.  But, 
before  he  left  the  vessel,  he  bent  his  bow,  fixed  one  of  the  shafts 
upon  the  deer  sinews,  which  formed  the  cord,  and  drawing  it  to 
its  head,  sent  it  high  in  air,  until  it  disappeared  for  a  few  seconds 
from  the  sight.  This  was  a  signal  to  his  people.  Their  king, 
like  the  arrow,  was  freed  from  its  confinement.  It  had  gone 
like  a  bird  of  mighty  wing,  into  the  unchained  atmosphere.  A 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  283 

cloud  of  arrows  from  the  shore  followed  that  of  their  sovereign. 
To  this  succeeded  a  great  shout  of  thanks  and  deliverance — 
"He!  He!  yo-he-wah !  He— he— yo-he-wah."  The  echo  of 
which  continued  to  ring  through  the  vaulted  forests,  long  after 
the  Paracoussi  had  disappeared  within  their  green  recesses. 


CHAPTER     III. 


THE  Paracoussi,  on  parting  with  Laudonniere,  renewed  his 
assurances  of  good  will,  and  repeated  the  promises  which  had  been 
given  to  ensure  his  deliverance  from  captivity.  The  engagement 
required  that  a  certain  number  of  days  should  be  allowed  him,  in 
which  to  gather  supplies  in  sufficient  quantity  to  discharge  his 
ransom.  Laudonniere  left  his  lieutenants,  Ottignyand  D'Erlach, 
with  the  two  hostages,  in  one  of  the  barks,  to  receive  the  pro- 
visions which  Utina  was  to  furnish,  while  he  himself  returned  to 
La  Caroline.  The  lieutenants  moored  their  vessel  within  a  little 
creek  which  emptied  into  the  May,  and  adopted  all  necessary 
precautions  against  savage  artifice.  The  vigilance  of  Alphonse 
D'Erlach,  in  particular,  was  sleepless.  He  knew,  more  certainly 
than  his  superior,  the  necessities  and  dangers  of  the  French,  and 
the  subtlety  of  the  Indians.  By  day  and  night  they  lurked  in  the 
contiguous  thickets,  watchful  of  every  opportunity  for  assault. 
An  arquebuse  presented  in  wantonness  against  the  ledge  which 
skirted  the  river,  would  frequently  expel  a  group  of  shrieking 
warriors,  well  armed  and  covered  with  the  war  paint ;  and,  with 
the  dawn  of  morning,  the  first  thing  to  salute  the  eyes  of  our  French- 
men would  be  long  strings  of  arrows,  planted  in  the  earth,  their 
barbs  of  flint  turned  upwards,  from  which  long  hairs  shreds  from 


284  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

heads  which  had  been  shorn  for  war,  were  to  be  seen  waving  in  the 
wind.  These  were  signs,  too  well  understood  by  previous  ex- 
perience, of  a  threatened  and  sleepless  hostility 
;  It  was  soon  found  that  the  Paracoussi  either  could  not  or  would 
not  comply  with  his  engagements.  He  sent  a  small  supply  of 
grain  to  the  lieutenant,  but  said  that  more  could  not  be  provided 
except  by  a  surrender  of  the  hostages.  The  Frenchmen  were 
required  to  bring  the  captives  to  the  village,  when  and  where  they 
should  be  furnished  with  the  full  amount  of  the  promised  ransom 
Satisfied  that  all  this  was  mere  pretence,  indicating  purposes  of 
treachery,  the  Frenchmen  were  yet  too  much  straitened  by  want 
to  forego  any  enterprise  which  promised  them  provisions.  They, 
accordingly,  set  forth  for  the  place  appointed,  in  two  separate 
bodies,  marching  so  that  they  might  support  each  other  promptly, 
tinder  the  several  leads  of  D'Erlach  and  Ottigny.  The  former 
held  the  advance.  The  village  of  Utina  was  six  French  leagues 
from  the  river  where  they  left  their  barque,  and  the  route  which 
they  were  compelled  to  pursue  was  such  as  exposed  them  frequently 
to  the  perils  of  ambuscade.  But  so  vigilant  was  their  watch,  so 
ready  were  they  with  matches  lighted,  and  so  close  was  the  cus- 
tody in  which  they  kept  their  hostages,  that  the  Indians,  whom 
they  beheld  constantly  flitting  through  the  thickets,  dared  never 
make  any  attempt  upon  them.  They  reached  the  village  in 
safety,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Olata 
Utina,  raised,  as  before  described,  upon  an  artificial  eminence. 
Here  they  found  assembled  all  the  chiefs  of  the  nation  ;  but  the 
Paracoussi  was  not  among  them.  He  kept  aloof,  and  was  not  to 
be  seen  at  present  by  the  Frenchmen.  His  chiefs  received  their 
visitors  with  smiles  and  great  professions  ;  but,  as  their  own  pro- 
verb recites,  when  the  enemy  smiles  your  scalp  is  in  danger. 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  2St» 

They  pointed  to  great  sacks  of  mil  and  beans  which  had  alread;- 
bccn  accumulated,  and  still  they  showed  the  Frenchmen  wher- 
hourly  came  other  of  their  subjects  adding  still  more  to  the  pile 

"  But  wherefore,"  they  demanded,  "  wherefore  come  our  whit 
brethren,  with  the  fire  burning  in  their  harquebuses  ?  See  thet 
not  that  it  causes  our  women  to  be  afraid,  and  our  children  t 
tremble  in  their  terror.  Let  our  brethren  put  out  this  fire,  whicl 
makes  them  dread  to  come  nigh  with  their  peace-offerings,  an< 
know  us  for  a  friend,  under  whose  tongue  there  is  no  serpent." 

To  this  D'Erlach  replied — "  Our  red  brothers  do  themselves 
wrong.  They  do  not  fear  the  fire  in  our  harquebuses.  They  knor 
not  its  danger.  The  Frenchmen  have  always  forborne  to  shor 
them  the  power  that  might  make  them  afraid.  But  this  power  i 
employed  only  against  our  enemies.  Let  the  chiefs  of  the  peopL 
of  the  Paracoussi  Utina  show  themselves  friends,  and  the  thun- 
der which  we  carry  shall  only  send  its  fearful  bolts  among  the  foe 
of  Utina,  the  people  of  Potanou,  and  the  warriors  of  the  grefr- 
mountain  of  Apalatchy. 

"  If  we  are  thus  friends  of  the  Frenchmen,  why  do  they  kee} 
our  beloved  men  in  bondage  ?  Are  these  the  ornaments  proper 
to  a  warrior  and  a  great  chief  among  his  people  ?" 

They  pointed  as  they  spoke  to  the  fetters  which  embraced  thr 
legs  and  arms  of  the  hostages,  who  sat  in  one  corner  of  tht 
council-house. 

"  Our  red  brothers  have  but  to  speak,  and  these  chains  fal 
from  the  limbs  of  their  well  beloved  chiefs." 

"  Heh  !— Wo  speak !— Let  them  fell !" 

"  Speak  to  your  people  that  these  piles  be  complete,"  pointing 
to  the  grain. 

"  They  have  heard.    See  you  not  they  come  ?" 


286  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  But  very  slowly  ; — and  hearken  to  us  now,  brothers  of  the 
red-men,  while  we  ask, — do  the  skies  that  pavilion  the  territories 
of  the  Paracoussi  Utina  rain  down  such  things  as  these." 

Here  D'Erlach  showed  them  a  bunch  oTlhe  arrows  which  they 
had  found  planted  by  the  wayside  as  they  came.  The  thin  lips  of 
the  savages  parted  into  slight  smiles  as  they  beheld  them. 

"  These  grow  not  by  nature,"  continued  D'Arlach  ;  "  they  fall 
not  from  heaven  in  the  heavy  showers.  They  are  sown  by  the 
red-men  along  the  path  which  the  white  man  travels.  What  is 
the  fruit  which  is  to  grow  from  such  seed  as  this  ?" 

The  chiefs  were  silent.     The  youth  proceeded : 

"  Brothers,  we  are  calm ; — we  are  not  angry,  though  we  well 
know  what  these  arrows  mean.  We  are  patient,  for  we  know  our 
own  strength.  The  Paracoussi  has  promised  us  supplies  of  grain, 
and  hither  we  have  come.  Four  days  shall  we  remain  in  waiting 
for  it.  Till  that  time,  these  well-beloved  men  shall  remain  in  our 
keeping.  When  we  receive  the  supplies  which  have  been  pro- 
mised us,  they  shall  be  yours.  We  have  spoken." 

Thus  ended  the  first  conference.  That  night  the  French 
lieutenants  found  their  way  to  the  presence  of  the  Paracoussi.  He 
was  kept  concealed  in  a  smaU'wigwam,  deeply  embowered  in  the 
woods,  but  in  near  and  convenient  neighborhood  to  the  village. 
He  himself  had  sent  for  them,  and  one  of  his  sons  had  shown  the 
way.  They  found  the  old  monarch  still  maintaining  the  state  of 
a  prince,  but  he  was  evidently  humbled.  His  captivity  had 
lessened  his  authority ;  and  his  anxiety  to  comply  with  the  en- 
gagements made  with  the  French  had  in  some  degree  impaired  his 
influence  over,  his  people.  They  had  resolved  to  destroy  the 
pale-faces,  as  insolent  invaders  of  their  territory,  consumers  of  its 
substance  and  enemies  of  its  peace  It  was  this  hostility  and  this 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI  287 

determination  that  had  interposed  all  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
procuring  the  supplies  promised. 

"  They  resist  me,  their  Paracoussi,"  said  Utina  bitterly,  "  and 
have  resolved  on  fighting  with  you  !  They  will  wage  war  against 
you  to  the  last.  See  you  not  the  planted  arrows  that  marked 
your  pathway  to  my  village  ?  These  arrows  are  planted  from 
the  territories  of  Utina,  by  every  pathway,  to  the  very  gates  of 
La  Caroline.  They  will  meet  your  eyes  wherever  you  shall  return 
to  the  fortress.  They  mean  nothing  less  than  war,  and  such 
warfare  as  admits  of  no  peace.  Go  you,  therefore,  go  you  with 
all  speed  to  your  vessels,  and  make  what  haste  you  can  to  the 
garrison.  The  woods  swarm  with  my  warriors,  and  they  no 
longer  heed  my  voice.  They  will  hunt  you  to  your  vessel. 
They  mean  to  throw  trees  athwart  the  creek  so  that  her  escape 
may  be  cut  off,  while  they  do  you  to  death  with  their  arrows, 
and  I  cannot  be  there  to  say  to  my  people — f  stay  your  shafts, 
these  be  our  friends  and  allies.'  They  no  longer  hearken  to  my 
voice.  I  am  a  Paracoussi  without  subjects,  a  ruler  without  obe- 
dience,— a  shadow,  where  I  only  used  to  be  the  substance." 

The  despondency  of  the  king  was  without  hypocrisy.  It 
sensibly  impressed  our  Frenchmen.  They  felt  that  he  spoke  the 
truth.  He  was  then,  in  fact,  excluded  from  the  house  of  coun- 
cil, as  incurring  the  suspicion  of  the  red-men  as  fatally  friendly 
to  the  whites.  While  they  still  conversed,  they  were  alarmed  by 
violent  shrieks,  as  of  one  in  mortal  terror. 

"  That  scream  issues  from  a  French  throat !"  exclaimed 
D'Erhch,  as  he  rushed  forth.  He  was  followed  by  Lieutenant 
Ottigny  and  another.  The  Paracoussi  never  left  his  seat.  The 
screams  guided  them  into  a  neighboring  thicket,  into  which  they 
hurried,  arriving  there  not  a  moment  too  soon.  A  Frenchman 


288  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

struggled  in  the  grasp  of  five  stalwart  savages,  who  had  him  down 
and  were  preparing  to  cut  his  throat.  He  had  been  beguiled 
from  the  place  which  had  been  assigned  him  as  a  watch,  and  was 
about  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  folly  with  his  life.  In  an  instant 
the  gallant  Alphonse  D'Erlach  had  sprung  among  them,  his  sword 
passing  clear  through  the  back  of  the  most  prominent  in  the 
group  of  assailants.  His  body,  falling  upon  that  of  the  captive, 
prevented  the  blows  which  the  rest  were  showering  upon  him. 
They  started  in  sudden  terror  at  this  interruption.  Their  own 
and  the  clamors  of  the  Frenchman  had  kept  them  from  all  know- 
ledge of  the  approaching  rescue.  In  an  instant  they  were  gone. 
They  waited  for  no  second  stroke  from  a  weapon  whose  first  ad- 
dress was  so  sharp  and  sudden.  They  left  their  captive,  bruised 
and  groaning,  but  without  serious  injury  to  life  or  limb. 

The  warnings  and  assurances  of  the  Paracoussi  were  sufficiently 
enforced  by  this  instance  of  the  hostility  of  the  red-men.  But 
the  necessity  of  securing  all  the  supplies  they  might  possibly  pro- 
cure from  the  natives,  either  through  their  own  artifices  or  because 
of  the  apprehension  for  their  chiefs,  caused  our  Frenchmen  to 
linger  at  the  village  of  Utina.  They  were  determined  to  wait  the 
full  period  of  four  days  which  they  had  assigned  themselves.  In 
this  period  they  saw  the  Paracoussi  more  than  once.  At  each 
interview  his  admonitions  were  delivered  with  increased  solemnity. 
They  found  his  chiefs  less  and  less  accommodating  at  every  inter- 
view. The  piles  of  grain  at  the  council-house  increased  slowly. 
Occasionally  an  Indian  might  be  seen  to  enter  and  cast  the  con- 
tents of  his  little  basket  among  the  rest.  The  Frenchmen  en- 
deavored to  persuade  the  chiefs  to  furnish  men  to  carry  the  grain 
to  their  vessel,  but  this  was  flatly  denied.  Resolved,  finally,  to 
depart,  each  soldier  was  required  to  load  himself  with  a  sack 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  289 

as  well  filled  as  it  was  consistent  with  his  strength  to  bear.  This 
was  slung  across  his  shoulder,  and,  in  this  way,  burdened  with 
food  for  other  mouths  as  well  as  their  own,  and  carrying  their 
matchlocks  besides,  the  Frenchmen  prepared  to  depart,  on  the 
morning  of  the  27th  July,  1565,  from  the  village  of  Utina  to  the 
bark  which  they  had  left.  It  was  a  memorable  day  for  our  ad- 
venturers. In  groups,  scornfully  smiling  as  they  beheld  the  sol- 
diers staggering  beneath  their  burdens,  the  chiefs  assembled  to 
see  them  depart  from  the  village.  Alphonse  D'Erlach  beheld 
the  malignant  triumph  which  sparkled  in  their  eyes. 

"  We  shall  not  be  suffered  to  reach  the  bark  in  quiet ;"  was  his 
remark  to  Ottigny.  "  Let  me  have  the  advance,  Monsieur,  if  you 
please;  I  have  dealt  with  the  dogs  before." 

To  this  Ottigny  consented ;  and  leading  one  of  the  divisons  of 
the  detachment,  as  at  coming,  D'Erlach  prepared  to  take  the 
initiate  in  a  progress,  every  part  of  which  was  destined  to  bo 
marked  with  strife.  The  immediate  entrance  to  the  village  of 
the  Paracoussi,  the  only  path,  indeed,  by  which  our  Frenchmen 
could  emerge,  lay,  for  nearly  half  a  mile,  through  a  noble  avenue, 
the  sides  of  which  were  densely  occupied  by  a  most  ample  and 
umbrageous  forest.  The  trees  were  at  once  great  and  lofty,  and 
the  space  beneath  was  closed  up  with  a  luxuriant  undergrowth 
which  spread  away  like  a  wall  of  green  on  either  hand.  D'Erlaeh 
remembered  this  entrance.  > 

"  Here,"  said  he  to  Ottigny, "  Here,  at  the  very  opening  of  the 
path,  our  trouble  is  likely  to  begin.  Let  your  men  be  prepared 
with  matches  lighted,  and  see  that  your  fire  is  delivered  only  in 
squads,  so  that,  at  no  time,  shall  all  of  your  pieces  be  entirely 
empty." 

Ottigny  prepared  to  follow  this  counsel.     His  men  were  all 
13 


290  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

apprised  of  what  they  had  to  expect ;  and  were  told,  at  the  first 
sign  of  danger,  to  cast  down  their  corn  bags,  and  betake  them- 
selves to  their  weapons  wholly.  The  grain  might  be  lost — pro- 
bably would  be — but  better  this,  than,  in  a  vain  endeavor  to 
preserve  it,  lose  life  and  grain  together.  Thus  prepared, 
D'Erlach  began  the  march.  He  was  followed,  at  a  short  interval, 
by  Ottigny,  with  the  rest  of  the  detachment ;  a  small  force  of 
eight  arquebusiers  excepted,  who,  under  charge  of  a  sergeant, 
were  sent  to  the  left  of  the  thicket  which  bounded  the  avenue  on 
one  hand,  with  instructions  to  scour  the  woods  in  that  quarter, 
yet  without  passing  beyond  reach  of  help  from  the  main  body. 

All  fell  out  as  had  been  anticipated.  D'Erlach  was  en- 
countered as  he  emerged  from  the  avenue,  by  a  force  of  three 
hundred  Indians.  They  poured  in  a  cloud  of  arrows,  but  fortu- 
nately at  such  a  distance  as  to  do  little  mischief.  With  the  first 
assault  the  Frenchmen  dispossessed  themselves  of  their  burdens, 
and  prepared  themselves  for  fight.  The  savages  came  on  more 
boldly,  throwing  in  fresh  flights  of  arrows  as  they  pushed  forward, 
and  rending  the  forests  with  their  cries.  D'Erlach  preserved  all 
his  steadiness  and  coolness.  He  saw  that  the  arrows  were  yet 
comparatively  ineffectual. 

"  Do  not  answer  them  yet,  my  good  fellows,"  he  cried,  "  but 
Btoop  ye,  every  man,  and  break  the  arrows,  as  many  as  ye  can, 
that  fall  about  ye." 

He  had  seen  that  the  savages,  having  delivered  a  few  fires,  were 
wont  to  rush  forward  and  gather  up  the  spent  shafts,  which,  thus 
recovered,  afforded  them  an  inexhaustible  armory,  upon  which  it 
is  their  custom  to  rely.  When  his  assailants  beheld  how  his  men 
were  engaged,  they  rushed  forward  with  loud  shouts  of  fury,  and 
delivering  another  storm  of  darts,  they  made  demonstrations  of  a 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  291 

desire  for  close  conflict,  with  their  stone  hatchets  and  macanas. 
At  this  show,  D'Erlach  spoke  to  his  men  in  subdued  accents. 

"  Make  ye  still  as  if  ye  would  stoop  for  the  fallen  arrows,  ye 
of  the  first  rank  ;  but  blow  ye  your  matches  even  as  ye  do  so, 
and  falling  upon  your  knees  deliver  then  your  fire ;  while  the 
second  rank  will  cover  you  as  ye  do  so,  and  while  ye  charge 
anew  your  pieces." 

The  command  was  obeyed  with  coolness ;  and,  as  the  Indians 
darted  forward,  coming  in  close  packed  squadrons  into  the  gorge 
of  the  avenue,  the  soldiers  delivered  their  fire  with  great  pre- 
cision. Dreadful  was  the  howl  which  followed  it,  for  more  than 
thirteen  of  the  savages  had  fallen,  mortally  hurt,  and  two  of  their 
chief  warriors  had  been  made  to  bite  the  dust.  Seizing  the 
bodies  of  their  slain  and  wounded  comrades,  the  survivors  imme- 
diately hurried  into  cover,  and  D'Erlach  at  once  pushed  forward 
with  his  command.  But  he  had  not  advanced  more  than  four 
hundred  paces,  when  the  assault  was  renewed,  the  air  suddenly 
being  darkened  with  the  flight  of  bearded  shafts,  while  the  forest 
rang  with  the  yells  of  savage  fury.  They  were  still  too  far 
for  serious  mischief,  and  were  besides  covered  with  the  woods ; 
so,  giving  the  assailants  little  heed,  except  to  observe  that  they 
came  not  too  nigh,  or  too  suddenly  upon  him,  D'Erlach  continued 
to  push  forward,  doing  as  he  had  done  before  with  the  hostile 
arrows  whenever  they  lay  in  the  pathway.  But  the  courage  of 
the  red-men  increased  as  they  warmed  in  the  struggle,  and  they 
grew  bolder  because  of  the  very  forbearance  of  the  Frenchmen 
Besides,  their  forces  had  been  increased  by  other  bodies,  each 
approaching  in  turn  to  the  assault,  so  as  to  keep  their  enemies 
constantly  busy.  In  parties  of  two  or  three  hundred,  they  darted 
from  their  several  ambushes,  and  having  discharged  their  arrows, 


292  THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM. 

and  met  with  repulse,  retired  rapidly  to  other  favorite  places  of 
concealment  to  renew  the  conflict  as  it  continued  to  advance. 
By  this  time,  the  whole  b«dy  of  the  Frenchmen  had  become  en- 
gaged in  the  fight.  The  force  under  Ottigny,  following  the 
example  of  that  led  by  D'Erlach,  had  succeeded  in  pressing  for- 
ward, though  not  without  loss,  while  making  great  havoc  with  the 
red-men.  These  people  fought,  never  men  more  bravely ;  and, 
but  for  the  happy  thought,  that  of  destroying  their  arrows  as  fast 
as  they  fell,  it  is  probable  that  the  detachment  had  never  reached 
La  Caroline.  They  hovered  thus  about  the  march  of  the  French- 
men all  the  day,  encouraging  each  other  with  shouts  of  vengeance 
and  delight,  and  sending  shaft  upon  shaft,  with  an  aim,  which, 
had  they  not  been  too  greatly  sensible  of  the  danger  of  the  ar- 
quebuse,  to  come  sufficiently  nigh,  would  have  been  always  fatal. 
Yet  well  did  the  savage  succeed,  so  long  as  they  remained  unin- 
toxicated  by  their  rage,  in  dodging  the  aim  of  the  weapon.  As 
Laudonniere  writes — "  All  the  while  they  had  their  eye  and  foot 
so  quicke  and  readie,  that  as  soone  as  ever  they  saw  the  harque- 
buse  raised  to  the  cheeke,  so  soon  were  they  on  the  ground,  and 
eftsoone  to  answer  with  their  bowes,  and  to  flie  their  way,  if  by 
chance  they  perceived  that  we  were  about  to  take  them." 

This  conflict  lasted  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  night. 
It  only  ceased  when  the  darkness  separated  the  combatants. 
Even  then,  but  for  the  deficiency  of  their  arrows,  they  probably 
would  not  have  withdrawn  from  the  field.  It  was  late  in  the 
night  when  the  Frenchmen  reached  their  boats,  weary  and  ex- 
hausted, their  grain  wrested  from  them,  their  hostages  rescued, 
and  twenty-four  of  their  number  killed  and  wounded.  The 
Floridians  had  shown  themselves  warriors  of  equal  spirit  and 
capacity.  The  determined  exclusion  of  their  Paracoussi  from 


CAPTIVITY    OF    THE    GREAT    PARACOUSSI.  293 

counsels  which  it  was  feared  that  he  would  dishonor,  their  manly 
resistance  to  the  white  invaders,  their  scornful  ridicule  of  their 
necessities,  their  proud  defiance  of  their  power,  and  the  fierce 
and  unrelenting  hostility  with  which  they  had  chased  their  adver- 
saries, remind  us  irresistibly  of  the  degradation  of  Montezuma 
by  his  subjects,  their  prolonged  warfare  with  the  Spaniards, 
their  sleepless  hostility,  and  that  bloody  struggle  which  first  drove 
them  over  the  causeways  of  Tenochtitlan.  The  inferior  state 
and  wealth  of  the  Paracoussi,  Olata  Ouvae  Utina,  constitutes  no 
such  sufficient  element  of  difference,  as  to  lessen  the  force  of  the 
parallel  between  himself  and  people,  and  those  of  the  Atzeo 


XX. 

^XxMPWMVfc 

IRACANA, 

OR    THE    EDEN    OF    THE    FLORIDIAN. 

THE  disasters  which  befel  his  detachment,  brought  Laudon- 
niere  to  his  knees.  He  had  now  been  humbled  severely  by  the 
dispensations  of  Providence — punished  for  that  disregard  of  the 
things  most  important  to  the  colonization  of  a  new  country,  which, 
in  his  insane  pursuit  of  the  precious  metals,  had  marred  his  admin- 
istration. His  misfortunes  reminded  him  of  his  religion. 

"  Seeing,  therefore,  mine  hope  frustrate  on  that  side,  I  made 
my  prayer  unto  God,  and  thanked  him  of  his  grace  which  he  had 
showed  unto  my  poore  souldiers  which  were  escaped." 

But  his  prayers  did  not  detain  him  long.  The  necessities  of 
the  colony  continued  as  pressing  as  ever.  "  Afterward,  I  thought 
upon  new  meanes  to  obtaine  victuals,  as  well  for  our  returne  into 
France,  as  to  drive  out  the  time  untill  our  embarking."  These 
were  meditations  of  considerable  difficulty.  The  petty  fields  of 
the  natives,  never  contemplated  with  reference  to  more  than  a 
temporary  supply  of  food ; — never  planted  with  reference  to  pro- 
viding for  a  whole  year,  were  really  inadequate  to  the  wants  of 
such  a  body  of  men,  unless  by  grievously  distressing  their  proprie- 


IRACANA.  295 

tors.  The  people  of  Olata  Utina  had  been  moved  to  rage  in  all 
probability,  quite  as  much  because  of  their  grain  crops,  about  to 
be  torn  from  them,  as  with  any  feeling  of  indignation  in  conse- 
quence of  the  detention  of  their  Paracoussi.  In  the  sacks  of  corn 
which  the  Frenchmen  bore  away  upon  their  shoulders,  they  be- 
held the  sole  provisions  upon  which,  for  several  months,  their 
women  and  children  had  relied  to  feed ;  and  their  quick  imagina- 
tions were  goaded  to  desperation,  as  they  depicted  the  vivid  horrors 
of  a  summer  consumed  in  vain  search  after  crude  roots  and  indi- 
gestible berries,  through  the  forests.  No  wonder  the  wild  wretches 
fought  to  avert  such  a  danger ;  as  little  may  we  wonder  that  they 
fought  successfully.  The  Frenchmen,  compelled  to  cast  down 
their  sacks  of  grain,  to  use  their  weapons,  the  red-men  soon  re- 
possessed themselves  of  all  their  treasure.  When  Laudonniere 
reviewed  his  harrassed  soldiers  on  their  return  from  this  expedi- 
tion, "  all  the  mill  that  he  found  among  his  company  came  but  to 
two  men's  burdens."  To  attempt  to  recover  the  provisions  thus 
wrested  from  them,  or  to  revenge  themselves  for  the  indignity 
and  injury  they  had  undergone,  were  equally  out  of  the  question. 
The  people  of  the  Paracoussi  could  number  their  thousands  ;  and, 
buried  in  their  deep  fortresses  of  forest,  they  could  defy  pursuit. 
Laudonniere  was  compelled  to  look  elsewhere  for  the  resources 
which  should  keep  his  company  from  want. 

Two  leagues  distant  from  La  Caroline,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
May  River,  stood  the  Indian  village  of  Saravahi.  Not  far  from 
this  might  be  seen  the  smokes  of  another  village,  named  Emoloa. 
The  Frenchmen,  wandering  through  the  woods  in  search  of  game, 
had  alighted  suddenly  upon  these  primitive  communities.  Here 
they  had  been  received  with  gentleness  and  love.  The  natives 
were  lively  and  benevolent.  They  had  never  felt  the  wrath  of 


THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  white  man,  nor  been  made  to  suffer  because  of  his  improvi- 
dence and  necessities.  His  thunderbolts  had  never  hurled  among 
their  columns,  and  mown  them  down  as  with  a  fiery  scythe  from 
heaven.  The  Frenchmen  did  not  fail  to  remark  that  they  were 
provident  tribes,  with  corn-fields  much  more  ample  than  were 
common  among  the  Indians.  These,  they  now  concluded,  must 
•o  covered  with  golden  grain,  in  the  season  of  harvest,  and 
thither,  accordingly,  Laudonniere  dispatched  his  boats.  A  judi- 
cious officer  conducted  the  detachment,  and  stores  of  European 
merchandize  were  confided  to  him  for  the  purposes  of  traffic.  He 
was  not  disappointed  in  his  expectations.  His  soldiers  were 
received  with  open  arms  ;  and  a  "good  store  of  mil,"  speaking 
comparatively,  was  readily  procured  from  the  abundance  of  the 
Indians. 

But,  in  preparation  for  the  return  to  France,  other  and  larger 
supplies  were  necessary.  The  boats  were  again  made  ready,  and 
confided  to  La  Vasseur  and  D'Erlach.  They  proceeded  to  the 
river  to  which  the  French  had  given  their  name  of  Somme,  now 
known  as  the  Satilla,  but  which  was  then  called  among  the 
Indians,  the  Iracana,  after  their  own  beautiful  queen.  Of  this 
queen  our  Frenchmen  had  frequently  been  told.  She  had  been 
described  to  them  as  the  fairest  creature,  in  the  shape  of  woman, 
that  the  country  had  beheld :  nor  was  the  region  over  which 
she  swayed,  regarded  with  less  admiration.  This  was  spoken  of 
as  a  sort  of  terrestrial  paradise.  Here,  'the  vales  were  more 
lovely ;  the  waters  more  cool  and  pellucid  than  in  any  other  of 
the  territories  of  earth.  Here,  the  earth  produced  more  abun- 
dantly than  elsewhere  ;  the  trees  were  more  stately  and  magnifi- 
cent, the  flowers  more  beautiful  and  gay,  and  the  vines  more 
heavily  laden  with  grapes  of  the  most  delicious  flavor.  Sweetest 


IRACANA.  297 

islets  rose  along  the  shore  over  which  the  moon  seemed  to  linger 
with  a  greater  fondness,  and  soft  breezes  played  ever  in  the 
capacious  forests,  always  kindling  to  emotions  of  pleasure,  the 
soft  beatings  of  the  delighted  heart.  The  influences  of  scene  and 
climate  were  felt  for  good  amongst  the  people  who  were  repre- 
sented at  once  as  the  most  generous  and  gentle  of  all  the  Floridian 
natives.  They  had  no  wild  passions,  and  coveted  no  fierce 
delights.  Under  the  sway  of  a  woman,  at  once  young  and  beau- 
tiful, the  daughter  of  their  most  favorite  monarch,  their  souls  had 
become  attuned  to  sympathies  which  greatly  tended  to  subdue 
and  to  soothe  the  savage  nature.  Their  lives  were  spent  in  sports 
and  dances.  No  rebukes  or  restraints  of  duty,  no  sordid  cares  or 
purposes,  impaired  the  dream  of  youth  and  rapture  which  pre- 
vailed everywhere  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Gay  assem- 
blages were  ever  to  be  found  among  the  villages  in  the  forests ; 
singing  their  own  delights  and  imploring  the  stranger  to  be 
happy  also.  They  had  a  thousand  songs  and  sports  of  youth  and 
pleasure,  which  made  life  a  perpetual  round  of  ever  freshening 
felicity.  Innocent  as  wild,  no  eye  of  the  ascetic  could  rebuke 
enjoyments  which  violated  no  cherished  laws  of  experience  and 
thought,  and  their  glad  and  sprightly  dances,  in  the  deep  shadows 
of  the  wood,  to  the  lively  clatter  of  Indian  gourds  and  tambourines, 
^vere  quite  as  significant  of  harmless  fancies  as  of  thoughtless  lives. 
Happy  was  the  lonely  voyager,  speeding  along  the  coast,  in  his 
frail  canoe,  when,  suddenly  darting  out  from  the  forests  of  Ira- 
cana,  a  slight  but  lovely  creature,  with  flowing  tunic  of  whit 
cotton,  stood  upon  the  head  land,  waving  her  branch  of  palm  or 
myrtle,  entreating  his  approach,  and  imploring  him  to  delay  his 
<'ourney,  while  he  shared  in  the  sweet  festivities  of  love  and  youth, 
"or  a  season,  upon  the  shore, — crying  with  a  sweet  chant, — 
13* 


298  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Love  you  me  not,  oh,  lonely  voyager — love  you  me  not  ? 
Lo  !  am  I  not  lovely ;  I  who  serve  the  beautiful  queen  of  Iracana  ? 
will  you  not  come  to  me,  for  a  while ! — come,  hide  the  canoe 
among  the  reeds,  along  the  shore,  and  make  merry  with  the  dam- 
sels of  Iracana.  I  give  to  thee  the  palm  and  the  myrtle,  in 
token  of  a  welcome  of  peace  and  love.  Come  hither,  oh ! 
lonely  voyager,  and  be  happy  for  a  season  !" 

And  seldom  were  these  persuasions  unavailing.  The  lonely 
voyager  was  commonly  won,  as  was  he  who,  sailing  by  Scylla  and 
Charybdis,  refused  to  seal  his  ears  with  wax  against  the  song  of 
the  Syren.  But  our  charmers,  along  the  banks  of  the  Satilla, 
entreated  to  no  evil,  laid  no  snares  for  the  unwary,  meditat- 
ing their  destruction.  They  sought  only  to  share  the  pleasures 
which  they  themselves  enjoyed.  The  benevolence  of  that  love 
which  holds  its  treasure  as  of  little  value,  unless  its  delights  may 
be  bestowed  on  others,  was  the  distinguishing  moral  in  the  Indian 
Eden  of  Iracana ;  and  he  who  came  with  love,  never  departed 
without  a  sorrow,  such  as  made  him  linger  as  he  went,  and  soon 
return,  when  this  were  possible,  to  a  region,  which,  among  our 
Floridians,  realized  that  period  of  the  Classic  Fable,  which  has 
always  been  designated,  par  excellence,  as  the  "age  of  gold." 

Our  Frenchmen,  under  the  conduct  of  La  Vasseur  and  D'Er- 
lach,  reached  the  frontiers  of  Iracana,  at  an  auspicious  period. 
The  season  of  harvest,  among  all  primitive  and  simple  nations, 
is  commonly  a  season  of  great  rejoicing.  Among  a  people  like 
those  of  Iracana,  habitually  accustomed  to  rejoice,  it  is  one  in 
which  delight  becomes  exultation,  and  when  in  the  supreme  feli- 
city of  good  fortune,  the  happy  heart  surpasses  itself  in  the  ex- 
traordinary expression  of  its  joy.  Here  were  assembled  to  the 
harvest,  all  the  great  lords  of  the  surrounding  country.  Here 


IRACANA. 

was  Athoree,  the  gigantic  son  of  Satouriova,  a  very  Anak, 
among  the  Floridians.  Here  were  Apalou,  a  famous  chieftain, — 
Tacadocorou,  and  many  others,  whom  our  Frenchmen  had  met 
and  known  before  ; — some  of  whom  indeed,  they  had  known  in 
fierce  conflict,  and  a  strife  which  had  never  been  healed  by  any 
of  the  gentle  offices  of  peace. 

But  Iracana  was  the  special  territory  of  peace.  It  was  not 
permitted,  among  the  Floridians,  to  approach  this  realm  with 
angry  purpose.  Here  war  and  strife  were  tabooed  things,-— shut, 
out,  denied  and  banished,  and  peace  and  love,  and  rapture,  were 
alone  permitted  exercise  in  abodes  which  were  too  grateful  to  all 
parties,  to  be  desecrated  by  hostile  passions.  When,  therefore, 
our  Frenchmen,  beholding  those  only  with  whom  they  had  so 
lately  fought,  were  fain  to  betake  themselves  to  their  weapons, 
the  chiefs  themselves,  with  whom  they  had  done  battle,  came 
forward  to  embrace  them,  with  open  arms. 

"  Brothers,  all — brothers  here,  in  Iracana ;"  was  the  common 
speech.  "  Be  happy  here,  brothers,  no  fight,  no  scalp,  nothing 
but  love  in  Iracana, — nothing  but  dance  and  be  happy." 

Even  had  not  this  assurance  sufficed  with  our  Frenchmen,  the 
charms  of  the  lovely  Queen  herself,  her  grace  and  sweetness,  not 
unmixed  with  a  dignity  which  declared  her  habitual  rule,  must 
have  staled  every  feeling  of  distrust  in  their  bosoms,  and  effect- 
ually exorcised  that  of  war.  She  came  to  meet  the  strangers  with 
a  mingled  ease  and  state,  a  sweetness  and  a  majesty,  which 
were  inexpressibly  attractive.  She  took  a  hand  of  La  Vasseur 
and  of  D'Erlach,  with  each  of  her  own.  A  bright,  happy  smile 
lightened  in  her  eye,  and  warmed  her  slightly  dusky  features 
with  a  glow.  Rich  in  hue,  yet  delicately  thin,  her  lips  parted 
with  a  pleasure,  as  she  spoke  to  them,  which  no  art  could  simu- 


300  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

late.  She  bade  them  welcome,  joined  their  hands  with  those  of 
the  great  warriors  by  whom  she  was  attended,  and  led  them  away 
among  her  damsels,  of  whom  a  numerous  array  were  assembled, 
all  habited  in  the  richest  garments  of  their  scanty  wardrobes. 
,  The  robes  of  the  Queen  herself  were  ample.  The  skirts  of  her 
dress  fell  below  her  knees,  a  thing  very  uncommon  with  the 
women  of  Florida.  Over  this,  she  wore  a  tunic  of  crimson,  which 
descended  below  her  hips.  A  slight  cincture  embraced,  without 
confining,  her  waist.  Long  strings  of  sea-shell,  of  the  smallest 
size,  but  of  colors  and  tints  the  most  various  and  delicate,  droop- 
ed across  her  shoulders,  and  were  strung,  in  loops  and  droplets, 
to  the  skirts  of  her  uress  and  her  symar.  Similar  strings  encir- 
cled her  head,  from  which  the  hair  hung  free  behind,  almost  to 
the  ground,  a  raven-like  stream,  of  the  deepest  and  most  glossy 
sable.  Her  form  was  equally  stately  and  graceful — her  carriage 
betrayed  a  freedom,  which  was  at  once  native  and  the  fruit  of  ha- 
bitual exercise.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  gracious  than  the 
sweetness  of  her  welcome  ;  nothing  more  utterly  unshadowed  than 
the  sunshine  which  beamed  in  her  countenance.  She  led  her 
guests  among  the  crowd,  and  soon  released  La  Vasseur  to  one  of 
the  loveliest  girls  who  came  about  her.  Alphonss  D'Erlach  she 
kept  to  herself.  She  was  evidently  struck  with  the  singula, 
union  of  delicacy  and  youth  with  sagacity  and  character,  whict 
declared  itself  in  his  features  and  deportment. 

Very  soon  were  all  the  parties  engaged  in  the  mazes  of  th« 
Indian  dance  of  Iracana, — a  movement  which,  unlike  the  waits 
of  the  Spaniards,  less  stately  perhaps,  and  less  imposing — yet  re 
quires  all  its  flexibility  and  freedom,  and  possesses  all  its  seduc- 
tive and  voluptuous  attractions.  Half  the  night  was  consumed 
with  dancing  ;  then  gay  parties  could  be  seen  gliding  into  canoes. 


IRACANA.  301 

and  darting  across  the  stream  to  other  villages  and  places  of 
abode.  Anon,  might  be  perceived  a  silent  couple  gliding  away 
to  sacred  thickets ;  and  with  the  sound  of  a  mighty  conch,  which 
strangely  broke  the  silence  of  the  forest,  the  Queen  herself  re- 
ired  with  her  attendants,  having  first  assigned  to  certain  of  her 
chiefs  the  task  of  providing  for  the  Frenchmen.  Of  these  'she 
had  already  shown  herself  sufficiently  heedful  and  solicitous.  Not 
sparing  of  her  regards  to  La  Vasseur,  she  had  particularly  devot- 
ed herself  to  D'Erlach,  and,  while  they  danced  together,  if  the 
truth  could  be  spoken  of  her  simple  heart,  great  had  been  its 
pleasure  at  those  moments,  when  the  spirit  of  the  dance  re- 
quired that  she  should  yield  herself  to  his  grasp,  and  die  away 
languidly  in  his  embrace. 

"  Ah  !  handsome  Frenchman,"  she  said  to  her  companion, — 
"  You  please  me  so  much." 

His  companions  were  similarly  entertained.  Captain  La  Vas- 
seur was  soon  satisfied  that  he  too  was  greatly  pleasing  to  the 
fair  and  lovely  savage  who  had  been  assigned  him  ;  and  not  one 
of  the  Frenchmen,  but  had  his  share  of  the  delights  and  endear- 
ments which  made  the  business  of  life  in  Iracana.  The  soldiers 
had  each  a  fair  creature,  with  whom  he  waltzed  and  wandered  ; 
and  fond  discourse,  everywhere  in  the  great  shadows  of  the  wood, 
between  sympathizing  spirits,  opened  a  new  idea  of  existence  to 
the  poor  Huguenots  who,  hitherto,  had  only  known  the  land  of 
Florida  by  its  privations  and  its  gold.  The  dusky  damsels,  alike 
sweet  and  artless,  brought  back  to  our  poor  adventurers  precious 
recollections  of  youthful  fancies  along  the  banks  of  the  Garonne 
and  the  Loire,  and  it  is  not  improbable,  that,  under  the  excite- 
ment of  new  emotions,  had  Laudonniere  proposed  to  transfer  La 
Caroline  to  the  Satilla,  or  Somme,  instead  ctf  May  River,  they 


302  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

might  have  been  ready  to  waive,  for  a  season  at  least,  their  im- 
patient desire  to  return  to  France. 

Night  was  at  length  subdued  to  silence  on  the  banks  of  the  Sa- 
tilla.  The  sounds  of  revelry  had  ceased.  All  slept,  and  the 
transition  from  night  to  day  passed,  sweetly  and  insensibly,  al- 
most without  the  consciousness  of  the  parties.  But,  with  the 
sunrise,  the  great  conch  sounded  in  the  forest.  The  Eden  of 
the  Floridian  did  not  imply  a  life  of  mere  repose.  The  people 
were  gathered  to  their  harvesting,  and  the  labors  of  the  day, 
under  the  auspices  of  a  gracious  rule,  were  made  to  seem  a  plea- 
sure. Hand  in  hand,  the  Queen  Iracana,  with  her  maidens, 
and  her  guests,  followed  to  the  maize  fields.  Already  had  she 
found  D'Erlach,  and  her  slender  fingers,  without  any  sense  of 
shame,  had  taken  possession  of  his  hand,  which  she  pressed  at 
moments  very  tenderly.  He  had  already  informed  her  of  the 
wants  and  the  sufferings  of  his  garrison,  and  she  smiled  with  a 
new  feeling  of  happiness,  as  she  eagerly  assured  him  that  his 
people  should  receive  abundance.  She  bent  with  her  own  hands 
the  towering  stalks ;  and,  detaching  the  ears,  flung  to  the  ground 
a  few  in  all  these  places,  on  which  it  was  meant  that  the  heaps 
should  be  accumulated.  "  Give  these  to  our  friends,  the  French- 
men," she  said,  indicating  with  a  sweep  of  the  hand,  a  large  tract 
of  the  field,  through  which  they  went.  D'Erlach  felt  this  libe- 
rality. He  squeezed  her  fingers  fondly  in  return, — saying  words 
of  compliment  which,  possibly,  in  her  ear,  meant  something  more 
than  compliment. 

Then  followed  the  morning  feast  ;  then  walks  in  the  woods  ; 
then  sports  upon  the  river  in  their  canoes ;  and  snaring  the  fish 
in  weirs,  in  which  the  Indians  were  very  expert.  Evening 
brought  with  it  a  renewal  of  the  danc3,  which  again  continued  late 


IRACANA.  303 

in  the  night.  Again  did  Alphonse  D'Erlach  dance  with  Iracana  ; 
but  it  was  now  seen  that  her  eyes  saddened  with  the  overfulness 
of  her  heart.  Love  is  not  so  much  a  joy  as  a  care.  It  is  so  vast 
a  treasure,  that  the  heart,  possessed  of  the  fullest  consciousness 
of  its  value,  is  for  ever  dreading  its  loss.  The  happiness  of  the 
Floridian  Eden  had  been  of  a  sort  which  never  absorbed  the 
soul.  It  lacked  the  intensity  of  a  fervent  passion.  It  was  the 
life  of  childhood — a  thing  of  sport,  and  play,  of  dance  and 
dream — not  that  eager  and  avaricious  passion  which  knows  never 
content,  and  is  never  sure,  even  when  most  happy,  from  the 
anxieties  and  doubts  which  beset  all  mortal  felicity.  Already  did 
our  Queen  begin  to  calculate  the  hours  between  the  present,  and 
that  which  should  witness  the  departure  of  the  pleasant  French- 
men. 

"  You  will  go  from  me,"  said  she  to  D'Erlach,  as  they  went 
apart  from  the  rest,  wandering  along  the  banks  of  the  river  and 
looking  out  upon  the  sea.  "  You  will  go  from  me,  and  I  shall 
never  see  you  any  more." 

"  I  will  come  again,  noble  Queen,  believe  me,"  was  the  assur- 
ance. 

"  Ah  !  come  soon,"  she  said,  a  come  soon,  for  you  please  me 
very  much,  Aphon." 

Such  was  the  soft  Indian  corruption  of  his  christened  name. 
No  doubt,  she  too  gave  pleasure  to  '  Aphon.'  How  could  it  be 
otherwise  ?  How  could  he  prove  insensible  to  the  tender  and 
fervid  interest  which  she  so  innocently  betrayed  in  him  ?  He  did 
not.  He  was  not  insensible  ;  and  vague  fancies  were  quickening 
in  his  mind  as  respects  the  future.  He  was  opposed  to  the  plan 
of  returning  to  France.  He  was  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of 
Coligny,  and  fulfilling  the  destinies  of  the  colony.  He  had 


304  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

/ 

warned  Laudonniere  against  the  policy  he  pursued,  had  foreseen 
all  the  evils  resulting  from  his  unwise  counsels,  and  there  was 
that  in  his  bosom  which  urged  the  glorious  results  to  France,  of 
a  vigorous  and  just  administration  of  a  settlement  in  the  western 
hemisphere,  in  which  he  was  to  participate,  with  his  energy  and 
forethought,  without  having  these  perpetually  baffled  by  the  im- 
becility and  folly  of  an  incapable  superior.  In  such  an  event, 
how  sweetly  did  his  fancy  mingle  with  his  own  fortunes  those  of 
the  gentle  and  loving  creature  who  stood  beside  him.  He  told 
her  not  his  thoughts — they  were  indeed,  fancies,  rather  than 
thoughts — but  his  arm  gently  encircled  her  waist,  and  while  her 
head  drooped  upon  her  bosom,  he  pressed  her  hand  with  a  tender 
earnestness,  which  spoke  much  more  loudly  than  any  language  to 
her  heart. 

The  hour  of  separation  came  at  length.  Three  days  had 
elapsed  in  the  delights  of  the  Floridian  Eden.  Our  Frenchmen 
were  compelled  to  tear  themselves  away.  The  objects  for  which 
they  came  had  been  gratified.  The  bounty  of  the  lovely  Iracana 
had  filled  with  grain  their  boats.  Her  subjects  had  gladly  borne 
the  burdens  from  the  fields  to  the  vessels,  while  the  strangers 
revelled  with  the  noble  and  the  lovely.  But  their  revels  were 
now  to  end.  The  garrison  at  La  Caroline,  it  was  felt,  waited 
with  hunger,  as  well  as  hope  and  anxiety  for  their  return,  and 
they  dared  to  delay  no  longer.  The  parting  was  more  difficult 
than  they  themselves  had  fancied.  All  had  been  well  entertained, 
and  all  made  happy  by  their  entertainment.  If  Alphonse 
D'Erlach  had  been  favored  with  the  sweet  attentions  of  a  queen, 
Captain  La  Vasseur  had  been  rendered  no  less  happy  by  the 
smiles  of  the  loveliest  among  her  subjects.  He  had  touched  her 
heart  also,  quite  as  sensibly  as  had  the  former  that  of  Iracana. 


IRACANA.  305 

Similarly  fortunate  had  been  their  followers.  Authority  had 
ceased  to  restrain  in  a  region  where  there  was  no  danger  of  insub- 
ordination, and  our  Frenchmen,  each  in  turn,  from  the  sergeant 
to  the  sentinel,  had  been  honored  by  regards  of  beauty,  such  as 
made  him  forgetful,  for  the  time,  of  precious  memories  in  France. 
Nor  had  these  favors,  bestowed  upon  the  Frenchmen,  provoked 
the  jealousy  of  the  numerous  Indian  chieftains  who  were  present, 
and  who  shared  in  these  festivities.  It  joyed  them  the  rather  to 
see  how  frankly  the  white  men  could  unbend  themselves  to  un- 
wonted pleasures,  throwing  aside  that  jealous  state,  that  sus- 
picious vigilance,  which,  hitherto,  had  distinguished  their  bearing 
in  all  their  intercourse  with  the  Indians. 

"  Women  of  Iracana  too  sweet,"  said  the  gigantic  son  of 
Satouriova,  Athore,  to  Captain  La  Vasseur,  as  the  parties,  each 
with  a  light  and  laughing  damsel  in  his  grasp,  whirled  beside  each 
other  in  the  mystic  maze  of  the  dance. 

"  I  much  love  the&e  women  of  Iracana,"  said  Apalou,  as  fierce 
a  warrior  in  battle,  as  ever  swore  by  the  altars  of  the  Indian 
Moloch.  "  I  glad  you  love  them  too,  like  me.  Iracana  woman 
good  for  too  much  love  !  They  make  great  warrior  forget  his 
enemies." 

"  Ha  !"  said  one  addressing  D'Brlach,  "  You  have  beautiful 
women  in  your  country,  like  Iracana,  the  Queen  ?" 

But,  we  need  not  pursue  these  details.  The  hour  of  separa- 
tion had  arrived.  Our  Frenchmen  had  brought  with  them  a 
variety  of  commodities  grateful  to  the  Indian  eye,  with  which 
they  designed  to  traffic  ;  but  the  bounty  of  Iracana,  which  had 
anticipated  all  their  wants,  had  asked  for  nothing  in  return.  The 
treasures  of  the  Frenchmen  were  accordingly  distributed  in  gifts 
among  the  noble  men  and  women  of  the  place.  Some  of  these 


306  THE    LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

Iracana  condescended  to  take  from  the  hands  of  Aphon.  Her 
tears  fell  upon  his  offering.  She  gave  him  in  return  two  small 
mats,  woven  of  the  finer  straws  of  the  country,  with  her  own 
hands — wrought,  indeed,  while  D'Erlach  sat  beside  her  in  the 
shade  of  a  great  oak  by  the  river  bank — and  u  so  artificially 
wrought,"  in  the  language  of  the  chronicle,  "  as  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  make  it  better."  The  poor  Queen  had  few  words — 

"  You  will  come  to  me,  Aphon — you  will  ?  you  will  ?  I  too 
much  want  you  !  Come  soon,  Aphon.  Iracana  will  dance  never 
no  more  till  Aphon  be  come." 

"  Aphon"  felt,  at  that  moment,  that  he  could  come  without 
sorrow.  He  promised  that  he  would.  Perhaps  he  meant  to  keep 
his  promise ;  but  we  shall  see.  The  word  was  given  to  be 
aboard,  and  the  trumpet  rang,  recalling  the  soldier  who  still 
lingered  in  the  forest  shadows,  with  some  dusky  damsel  for  com- 
panion. All  were  at  length  assembled,  and  with  a  last  squeeze 
of  her  hand,  D'Erlach  took  leave  of  his  sorrowful  queen.  She 
turned  away  into  the  woods,  but  soon  came  forth  again,  unable  to 
deny  herself  another  last  look. 

But  the  Frenchmen  were  delayed.  One  of  their  men  was  miss- 
ing. Where  was  Louis  Bourdon  ?  There  was  no  answer  to  his 
name.  The  boats  were  searched,  the  banks  of  the  river,  the 
neighboring  woods,  the  fields,  the  Indian  village,  and  all  in  vain. 
The  Frenchmen  observed  that  the  natives  exhibited  no  eagerness 
in  the  search.  They  saw  that  many  faces  were  clothed  with 
smiles,  when  their  efforts  resulted  fruitlessly.  They  could  not 
suppose  that  any  harm  had  befallen  the  absent  soldier.  They 
could  not  doubt  the  innocence  of  that  hospitality,  which  had 
shown  itself  so  fond.  They  conjectured  rightly  when  they  sup- 
posed that  Louis  Bourdon,  a  mere  youth  of  twenty,  had  gone 


IRACANA  307 

off  with  one  of  the  damsels  of  Iraeana,  whose  seductions  he  had 
found  it  impossible  to  withstand.  D'Erlach  spoke  to  the  Queen 
upon  the  subject  She  gave  him  no  encouragement.  She  pro- 
fessed to  know  nothing,  and  probably  did  not,  and  she  would 
promise  nothing.  She  unhesitatingly  declared  her  belief  that  he 
was  in  the  forest,  with  some  one  that  "  he  so  much  loved  :"  but 
she  assured  D'Erlach  that  to  hunt  them  up  would  be  an  impossi- 
bility. 

"  Why  you  not  stay  with  me,  Aphon,  as  your  soldier  stay 
with  the  woman  he  so  much  love  ?  It  is  good  to  stay.  Iraeana 
will  love  you  too  much  more  than  other  woman.  Ah  !  you  love 
not  much  the  poor  Iraeana." 

"  Nay,  Iraeana,  I  love  you  greatly.  I  will  come  to  you  again. 
I  find  it  hard  to  te^r  myself  away.  But  my  people — " 

"  Ah  !  you  stay  with  Iraeana,  and  much  love  Iraeana,  and  you 
have  all  these  people.  They  will  plant  for  you  many  fields  of 
corn;  you  shall  no  more  want;  and  we  will  dance  when  the 
evening  comes,  and  we  shall  be  so  happy,  Aphon  and  Iraeana,  to 
live  together;  Aphon  the  great  Paracoussi,  and  Iraeana  to  be 
Queen  no  more." 

It  was  not  easy  to  resist  these  pleadings.  But  time  pressed. 
Captain  La  Vasseur  was  growing  impatient.  The  search  after 
Louis  Bourdon  was  abandoned,  and  the  soldiers  were  again  ordered 
on  board.  The  anxieties  of  La  Vasseur  being  now  awakened,  lest 
others  of  his  people  should  be  spirited  away.  Of  this  the  danger 
was  considerable.  The  Frenchman  was  a  more  flexible  being 
than  either  the  Englishman  or  Spaniard.  It  was  much  easier  for 
him  to  assimilate  with  the  simple  Indian ;  and  our  Huguenot 
soldiers,  who  had  very  much  forgotten  their  religion  in  their 
diseased  thirst  after  gold,  now,  in  the  disappointment  of  the  one 


308  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

appetite  were  not  indifferent  to  the  consolations  afforded  by  a  life 
of  ease  and  sport,  and  the  charms  which  addressed  them  in  forms 
so  persuasive  as  those  of  the  damsels  of  Iracana.  La  Vasseur 
began  to  tremble  for  his  command,  as  he  beheld  the  reluctance 
of  his  soldiers  to  depart.  He  gave  the  signal  hurriedly  to 
Alphonso  D'Erlach,  and  with  another  sweet  single  pressure  of  the 
hand,  he  left  the  lovely  Queen  to  her  own  melancholy  musings. 
She  followed  with  her  eyes  the  departing  boats  till  they  were 
clean  gone  from  sight,  then  buried  herself  in  the  deepest  thickets 
where  she  might  weep  in  security. 

Other  eyes  than  hers  pursued  the  retiring  barks  of  the  French- 
men, with  quite  as  much  anxiety ;  and  long  after  she  had  ceased 
to  see  them.  On  a  little  headland  jutting  out  upon  the  river 
below,  in  the  shade  of  innumerable  vines  and  flowers,  crouching 
in  suspense,  was  the  renegade,  Louis  Bourdon.  By  his  side  sat 
the  dusky  damsel  who  had  beguiled  him  from  his  duties.  While 
his  comrades  danced,  he  was  flying  through  the  thickets.  The 
nation  were,  many  of  them,  conscious  of  his  flight;  but  they  held 
his  offence  to  be  venial,  and  they  encouraged  him  to  proceed. 
They  lent  him  help  in  crossing  the  river,  at  a  point  below ;  the 
father  of  the  woman  with  whom  he  fled  providing  the  canoe  with 
which  to  transport  him  beyond  the  danger  of  pursuit.  Little  did 
our  Frenchmen,  as  the  boats  descended,  dream  who  watched  them 
from  the  headland  beneath  which  they  passed.  Many  were  the 
doubts,  frequent  the  changes,  in  the  feelings  of  the  capricious 
renegade,  as  he  saw  his  countrymen  approaching  him,  and  felt 
that  he  might  soon  be  separated  from  them  and  home  forever,  by 
the  ocean  walls  of  the  Atlantic.  Whether  it  was  that  his  Indian 
beauty  detected  in  his  face  the  fluctuations  of  his  thoughts,  and 
feared  that,  on  the  near  approach  of  the  boats?he  would  change 


IRACANA.  309 

his  purpose  and  abandon  her  for  his  people,  cannot  be  said ;  but 
just  then  she  wound  herself  about  within  his  arms,  and  looliod  up 
in  his  face,  while  her  falling  hair  enmeshed  his  hands,  and  con- 
tributed, perhaps,  still  more  firmly  to  ensnare  his  affections.  His 
heart  had  been  in  his  mouth ;  he  could  scarcely  have  kept  from 
crying  out  to  his  comrades  as  the  boats  drew  nigh  to  the  cliff; 
but  the  dusky  beauties  beneath  his  gaze,  the  soft  and  delicate 
form  within  his  embrace,  silenced  all  the  rising  sympathies  of 
brotherhood  in  more  ravishing  emotions.  In  a  moment  their  boats 
had  gone  by ;  in 'a  little  while  they  had  disappeared  from  sight, 
and  the  arms  of  the  Indian  woman,  wrapped  about  her  captive, 
declared  her  delight  and  rapture  in  the  triumph  which  she  now 
regarded  as  secure.  .Louis  Bourdon  little  knew  how  much  he  had 
escaped,  in  thus  becoming  a  dweller  in  the  Floridian  Eden. 


XXI. 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY, 

THE  glowing  accounts  of  the  delights  of  the  Floridian  Eden 
which  were  brought  by  our  returning  voyagers,  were  not  sufficient 
to  persuade  the  garrison  to  forego  their  anxious  desire  to  return 
to  France.  The  home-sickness  under  which  they  labored  had 
now  reached  such  a  height  as  to  sufier  no  appeal  or  opposition. 
Nothing  but  the  stern  decree  of  authority  could  have  silenced 
the  discontents  ;  and  the  authority  lay  neither  in  the  will  nor  in 
the  numbers  under  the  control  of  Laudonniere.  To  such  a  de- 
gree of  impatience  had  this  passion  for  their  European  homes 
arisen,  that,  when  it  was  found  that  the  building  of  the  vessel  for 
their  deportation  would  be  delayed  beyond  the  designated  period,  in 
consequence  of  the  death,  in  battle  with  the  savages,  of  two  of  the 
carpenters,  the  multitude  rose  in  mutiny  setting  upon  Jean  de 
Hais,  the  master-carpenter, — who  had  innocently  declared  the  im- 
possibility of  doing  the  work  within  jthe  given  time, — with  such 
ferocity,  as  to  make  it  scarcely  possible  to  save  his  life.  With 
this  spirit  prevailing  among  his  garrison,  Laudonniere  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  idea,  altogether,  of  building  the  ship ;  and 
to  address  all  his  energies  to  the  repair,  for  the  desired  purpose, 
of  the  old  brigantine,  which  had  been  brought  back  to  La  Caro- 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  311 

line,  by  the  returning  pirates.  To  work,  with  this  object,  all 
parties  were  now  set  with  the  utmost  expedition.  The  houses 
which  had  been  built  without  the  fort  were  torn  down,  in  order 
that  the  timber  should  be  converted  into  coal  for  the  uses  of  the 
forge  ;  this  being  a  labor  much  easier  than  that  of  using  the  axe 
upon  the  trees  of  the  forest.  The  palisade  which  conducted  from 
the  fort  to  the  river  was  torn  down  also  by  the  soldiery,  for  the 
same  purpose,  in  spite  of  the  objections  of  Laudonniere.  It  was 
their  policy  to  make  their  determination  to  depart  inevitable,  by 
rendering  the  place  no  longer  habitable.  The  fort,  itself,  it  was 
determined  to  destroy,  when  they  were  ready  to  sail,  "  lest  some 
new-come  guest  should  have  enjoyed  and  possessed  it."  Our 
Frenchmen  were  very  jealous  of  the  designs  of  the  English  queen. 
They  well  knew  that  the  haughty  and  courageous  Elizabeth  was 
meditating  a  British  settlement  in  the  New  World ;  and  though, 
after  their  own  voluntary  abandonment  of  the  country,  they  had  no 
right  to  complain  that  another  should  occupy  the  waste  places,  yet 
their  jealousy  was  too  greatly  that  of  the  dog  in  the  manger,  to 
behold,  with  pleased  eye,  the  possession  by  another  of  the  things 
which  they  themselves  had  been  unable  to  enjoy.  "  In  the  mean- 
while," says  Laudonniere — seeking  to  excuse  his  own  unwise 
management  and  feeble  policy — "  In  the  meanwhile,  there  was 
none  of  us  to  whome  it  was  not  an  extreme  griefe  to  leave  a 
country  wherein  wee  had  endured  so  greate  travailes  and  neces- 
sities, to  discover  that  which  wee  must  forsake  through  our  owne 
countrymen's  default.  For  if  wee  had  beene  succoured  in  time 
and  place,  and  according  to  the  promise  that  was  made  unto  us, 
the  war  which  was  between  us  and  Utina  had  not  fallen  out,  neither 
should  wee  have  had  occasion  to  offend  the  Indians,  which,  with 
all  paincs  in  the  world,  I  entertained  in  good  amitie,  as  well  with 


312  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

merchandize  and  apparel,  as  with  promise  of  greater  matters  ;  and 
with  whome  I  so  behaved  myself,  that  although  sometimes  I  was 
constrained  to  take  victuals  in  some  few  villages,  yet  I  lost  not 
the  alliance  of  eight  kings  and  lords,  my  neighbours,  which  con- 
tinually succoured  and  ayded  me  with  whatever  they  were  able  to 
afford.  Yea,  this  was  the  principal  scope  of  all  my  purposes,  to 
winne  and  entertaine  them,  knowing  how  greatly  their  amitie  might 
advance  our  enterprise,  and  principally  while  I  discovered  the 
commodities  of  the  country,  and  sought  to  strengthen  myself 
therein.  I  leave  it  to  your  cogitation  to  think  how  neare  it  went 
to  our  hearts  to  leave  a  place  abounding  in  riches  (as  we  were 
thoroughly  enformed  thereof)  in  coming  whereunto,  and  doing 
service  unto  our  prince,  we  lefte  our  owne  countrey,  wives,  children, 
parents  and  friends,  and  passed  the  perils  of  the  sea,  and  were 
therein  arrived  as  in  a  plentiful  treasure  of  all  our  heart's  desire." 
It  was  while  distressing  himself  with  these  cogitations  that  Lau- 
donniere,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1565,  took  a  walk,"aswas  his  cus- 
tom of  an  afternoon,"  to  the  top  of  a  little  eminence,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  fort,  which  afforded  a  distant  prospect  of  the 
sea.  Here,  looking  forth  with  yearning  to  that  watery  waste 
which  he  was  preparing  to  traverse,  he  was  suddenly  excited,  as 
he  beheld  four  sail  of  approaching  vessels.  At  first,  the  tidings 
made  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  to  leap  for  joy.  The  vessels 
were  naturally  supposed  to  be  those  of  their  own  countrymen ; 
and  such  was  the  gladness  inspired  by  this  supposition,  that  "  one 
would  have  thought  them  to  be  out  of  their  wittes,  to  see  them 
laugh  and  leap."  But,  something  in  the  behavior  of  the  strange 
ships,  after  a  while,  rendered  our  Frenchmen  a  little  doubtful  of 
their  character.  Instead  of  boldly  approaching,  they  were  seen  to 
cast  anchor  and  to  send  out  one  of  their  boats.  A  prudent  fear 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  313 

of  the  Spaniards  made  Laudonniere  get  his  soldiers  in  readiness  ; 
while  Captain  La  Yasseur,  with  a  select  party,  advanced  to  the 
river  side  to  meet  the  visitors.     They  proved  to  be  Englishmen — 
a  fleet  under  the  command  of  the  celebrated  John  Hawkins  ;  and 
had  on  board  one  Martin  Atinas,  of  Dieppe ;  a  Frenchman,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  colonists  of  Fort  Charles, — one  of  those  who 
returning  to  France,  had  been  taken  up  at  sea  and  carried  into 
England.     He  had  guided  the  English  admiral  along  the  coast, 
and  his  information  had  contributed  to  prompt  the  voyage  of  ex- 
ploration which  Hawkins  had  in  hand.     But  the  object  of  the 
British  admiral  was  quite  pacific,  and  his  conduct  exceedingly 
generous  and  noble.     His  ostensible  purpose  in  putting  into  May 
River  was  to  procure  fresh  water.     Laudonniere  permitted  him  to 
do   so.      Hawkins,   perceiving   the   distressed   condition  of  the 
Frenchmen,  relieved  them  with  liberal  supplies  df  bread,  wine  and 
provisions.     Apprised  of  their  desire  to  return  to  France,  he,  with 
greater  liberality  and  a  wiser  policy,  offered  to  transport  the  whole 
colony.     But  Laudonniere  was  still  jealous  of  the  Englishman, 
and  was  apprehensive  that,  while  he  carried  off  the  one  colony,  he 
would  instantly  plant  another  in  its  place.     He  declined  the 
generous  offer,  but  bargained  with  him  for  one  of  his  vessels,  for 
which  Laudonniere  chiefly  paid  by  the  furniture  of  the  fortress, 
— the   cannon,    &c., — viz. :   "two  bastards,   two  mynions,   one 
thousand  of  iron  (balls),  and  one  thousand  (pounds)  of  powder." 
These  items  included  only  a  portion  of  the  purchase  consideration, 
in  earnest  of  the  treaty.     Moved  with  pity  at  the  wretched  con- 
dition of  the  Frenchmen,  the  generous  Englishman  offered  sup- 
plies for  which  he  accepted  Laudonniere's  bills.     These  the  sub- 
sequent misfortunes  of  the  latter  never  permitted  him  to  satisfy. 
In  this  way  our  colonists  procured  "  twenty  barrels  of  meale,  six 
14 


314  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

pipes  of  beanes,  one  hogshead  of  salt,  and  a  hundred  (cwt.  ?)  of 
waxe  to  make  candles.  Moreover,  forasmuch  as  hee  saw  my  soul- 
diers  goe  barefoote,  hee  offered  me  besides  fifty  paires  of  shoes, 
which  I  accepted."  "  He  did  more  than  this,"  says  Laudonniere. 
"  He  bestowed  upon  myselfe  a  great  jarre  of  oyle,  a  jarre  of 
vinegar,  a  barell  of  olives,  a  great  quantitie  of  rice,  and  a  barell 
of  white  biscuit.  Besides,  he  gave  divers  presents  to  the  princi- 
pal officers  of  my  company  according  to  their  qualities :  so  that,  I 
may  say,  that  we  received  as  many  courtesies  of  the  G-enerall  as 
was  possible  to  receive  of  any  man  living." 

Here,  we  are  fortunately  in  possession  of  the  narrative  of  Hawkins 
himself,  and  his  report  of  the  encounter  with  our  Frenchmen.  It 
affords  a  good  commentary  upon  the  bad  management  of  Laudon- 
niere, and  the  worthless  character  of  his  followers ;  the  sturdy 
Englishmen  seeing,  at  a  glance,  where  all  the  evils  of  the  colony 
lay.  He  describes  their  first  settlement  as  gathered  from  their 
own  lips ;  their  numbers,  the  period  they  had  remained  in  the 
country,  their  frequent  want,  and  the  modes  resorted  to  for  escap- 
ing famine.  His  details  comprise  all  the  facts  of  our  history,  as 
already  given.  Of  their  discontents  and  rebels,  he  speaks  as  of  a 
class,  "  who  would  not  take  the  paines  so  much  as  to  fishe  in  the 
river  before  their  doores,  but  would  have  all  thinges  put  in  their 
mouthes.  They  did  rebell  against  the  Captaine,  taking  away  first 
his  armour,  and  afterwards  imprisoning  him,  &c."  The  narrative 
of  Hawkins  gives  the  subsequent  history  of  the  rebels,  their 
piracy,  capture  and  fate.  He  mentions  one  particular,  which  we 
do  not  gather  from  Laudonniere,  showing  the  sagacity  of  the 
Floridian  warriors.  Finding  that  the  Frenchmen,  in  battle,  were 
protected  by  their  coats  of  mail,  or  escaupil,  and  the  bucklers  in 
familiar  use  at  the  time,  they  directed  their  arrows  at  the  faces 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  315 

and  the  legs  of  their  enemies,  which  were  the  parts  in  which  they 
were  mostly  wounded.  -  At  the  close  of  this  war,  according  to  our 
Englishmen,  Laudonniore  had  not  forty  soldiers  left  unhurt. 
After  detailing  the  supplies  accorded  to  the  colonists  from  his 
stores,  he  adds,  "  notwithstanding  the  great  want  that  the  French- 
men had,  the  ground  doth  yield  victuals  sufficient,  if  they  would 
have  taken  paines  to  get  the  same ;  but  they  being  souldiers,  de- 
sired to  live  by  the  sweat  of  other  men^s  browes."  Here  speaks 
the  jealous  scorn  of  the  sailor.  "  The  ground  yieldcth  naturally 
great  store  of  grapes,  for  in  the  time  the  Frenchmen  were  there 
they  made  twenty  hogsheads  of  wine."  Our  poor  Huguenots 
could  seek  gold  and  manufacture  wine,  but  could  not  raise  pro- 
visions. They  were  of  too  haughty  a  stomach  to  toil  for  any  but 
the  luxuries  of  life.  "  Also,"  says  Hawkins,  "  it  (the  earth) 
yieldeth  roots  passing  good,  deere  marvellous  store,  with  divers 
other  beastes  and  fowle  serviceable  to  man.  These  be  things 
wherewith  a  man  may  live,  having  corne  or  maize  wherewith  to 
make  bread,  for  maize  maketh  good  savory  bread,  and  cakes  as 
fine  as  flowre ;  also,  it  maketh  good  meale,  beaten  and  sodden 
with  water,  and  nourishable,  which  the  Frenchmen  did  use  to  drink 
of  in  the  morning,  and  it  assuageth  their  thirst,  so  that  they  have 
no  need  to  drink  all  the  day  after.  And  this  maize  was  the 
greatest  lack  they  had,  because  they  had  no  labourers  to  sowe  the 
same ;  and  therefore,  to  them  that  should  inhabit  the  land,  it 
were  requisite  to  have  labourers  to  till  and  sowe  the  ground  ;  for 
they,  having  victuals  of  their  owne,  whereby  they  neither  spoil  nor 
rob  the  inhabitants,  may  live  not  only  quietly  with  them,  who 
naturally  are  more  desirous,  of  peace  than  of  warre^  but  also  shall 
have  abundance  of  victuals  proffered  them  for  nothing,  &c." 
The  testimony  of  Hawkins  is  as  conclusive  in  behalf  of^he  Flori- 


316  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

dians  as  it  is  unfavorable  to  our  Frenchmen.  He  speaks  in  the 
highest  terms  of  the  qualities  and  resources  of  the  country,  as 
abounding  in  commodities  unknown  to  men,  and  equal  to  those  of 
any  region  in  the  world.  He  tells  us  of  the  gold  procured  by  the 
Huguenot  colonists,  one  mass  of  two  pounds  weight  being  taken 
by  them  from  the  Indians,  without  equivalent.  The  latter  he  de- 
scribes as  having  some  estimation  of  the  precious  metals  ;  "  for  it 
is  wrought  flat  and  graven,  which  they  wear  about  their  necks, 
&c."  The  Frenchmen  eat  snakes  in  the  sight  of  our  English- 
men, to  their  "  no  little  admiration  ;"  and  affirm  the  same  to  be 
a  delicate  meat.  Laudonniere  tells  Hawkins  some  curious  snake 
stories,  which  could  not  well  be  improved  upon,  even  in  the 
"  Hunter's  Camp,"  on  a  "  Lying  Saturday."  "  I  heard  a  miracle 
of  one  of  these  adders," — snakes  a  yard  and  a  half  long, — "  upon 
the  which  a  faulcon  fhawk)  seizing,  the  sayd  adder  did  claspe  her 
taile  about  her  ;  which,  the  French  captaine  seeing,  came  to  the 
rescue  of  the  faulcon,  and  took  her, — slaying  the  adder."  There 
is  no  improbability  in  this  story  ;  but  we  shall  be  slow  to  give  our 
testimony  in  behalf  of  that  which  follows :  "  And  the  Captaine  of 
the  Frenchmen  saw  also  a  serpent  with  three  heads  and  foure 
feet,  of  the  bignesse  of  a  great  spaniel,  which,  for  want  of  a  har- 
quebuse,  he  durst  not  attempt  to  slay."  Laudonniere  had  evident- 
ly some  appreciation  of  the  marvellous ;  but  only  four  feet  to 
three  heads  was  a  monstrous  disproportion.  The  account  which 
Hawkins  gives  of  the  abundance  of  fish  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  garrison,  is  no  exaggeration,  and  only  adds  to  the  surprise 
that  we  feel  at  the  wretched  indolence  and  imbecility  of  the 
colonists,  who,  with  this  resource  "  at  their  doores,"  depended  for 
their  supply  upon  the  Floridians. 
Hawkifs's  account  of  the  coast  and  characteristics  of  Florida 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  317 

is  copious  and  full  of  interest,  but  belongs  not  to  this  narrative. 
He  left  the  Huguenots,  on  the  28th  July,  1565,  making  all  pre- 
parations to  follow  in  his  wake  ;  and  on  the  fifteenth  of  August 
Laudonniere  was  prepared  to-cfcepart  also.  The  biscuit  was  made 
for  the  voyage,  the  goods  and  chattels  of  the  soldiers  were  taken 
on  board,  and  most  of  the  water  ; — nothing  delayed  their  sailing 
but  head-winds  ; — when  the  whole  proceeding  was  arrested  by  the 
sudden  appearance  of  Ribault,  with  the  long-promised  supplies 
from  France.  The  approach  of  Ribault  was  exceedingly  cautious  ; 
so  circumspect,  indeed,  that  fears  were  entertained  by  the  garri- 
son that  his  ships  were  those  of  the  Spaniards.  The  guns  of  the 
fortress  were  already  trained  to  bear  upon  them  when  the  strangers 
discovered  themselves.  The  reasons  for  their  mysterious  deport- 
ment, as  subsequently  given,  arose  from  certain  false  reports  which 
had  reached  France,  of  the  conduct  of  Laudonniere.  He  had 
been  described,  by  letters  from  some  of  his  malcontents  in  the 
colony,  as  affecting  a  sort  of  regal  state — as  preparing  to  shake 
off  his  dependence  upon  the  mother-country — and  setting  up  for 
himself,  as  the  sovereign  lord  of  the  Floridas.  Poor  Laudonniere ! 
living  on  vipers,  crude  berries  and  bitter  roots,  mocked  by  the 
savages  on  one  hand,  fettered  and  flouted  by  his  own  runagates 
and  rebels  on  the  other, — defied  in  his  authority,  and  starving  in 
all  his  state,  was  in  no  mood  to  affect  royalty  upon  the  River 
May.  He  was,  no  doubt,  a  vain  and  ostentatious  person ;  but, 
whatever  may  have  been  his  absurdities  and  vanities,  at  first,  they 
had  been  sufficiently  schooled  by  his  necessities,  we  should  think, 
to  cure  him  of  any  such  idle  affectations.  He  had  been  subdued 
and  humbled  by  defeat, — the  failure  of  his  plans,  and  the  evident 
contempt  into  which  he  had  sunk  among  his  people.  Yet  of  all 
this,  the  King  of  France  and  Monsieur  de  Coligny  could  have 


318  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

known  nothing ;  and  when  we  recollect  that  the  colony  was  made  up 
of  Huguenots  only,  a  people  of  whose  fidelity  the  former  might  rea- 
sonably doubt,  the  suspicions  of  the  Catholic  monarch  may  not  bo 
supposed  entirely  unreasonable.  At  all  events,  Ribault  was  sent  to 
supersede  the  usurping  commander,  and  bore  imperative  orders  for 
his  recall.  The  armament  confided  to  Ribault  consisted  of  seven 
vessels,  and  a  military  force  corresponding  with  such  a  fleet.  We  are 
also  made  aware  that,  on  this  occasion,  the  force  which  he  command 
ed  was  no  longer  made  up  of  Huguenots  exclusively,  as  in  the  pre- 
vious armament.  A  large  sprinkling  of  Catholic  soldiers  accom- 
panied the  expedition,  and  the  temporary  peace  throughout  the 
realm  enabled  a,  great  number  of  gentlemen  and  officers  to  employ 
themselves  in  the  search  after  adventure  in  the  New  World. 
They  accordingly  swelled  the  forces  of  Ribault,  and  showed  con- 
clusively that  the  colonial  establishment  in  Florida  had  grown 
into  some  importance  at  home.  That  Laudonniere  should  become 
a  prince  there,  was  calculated  to  exaggerate  the  greatness  of  the 
principality  ;  and  the  jealousy  of  the  French  monarch,  in  all  pro- 
bability, for  the  first  time,  awakened  his  sympathy  for  the  settle- 
ment. The  same  accounts  which  had  borne  the  tidings  of 
Laudonniere's  ambition,  may  have  exaggerated  the  resources  and 
discoveries  of  the  country ;  and  possibly  some  specimens  of  gold 
— the  mass  of  two  pounds  described  by  Hawkins — had  dazzled 
the  eyes  and  excited  the  avarice  of  court  and  people.  Enough 
that  Laudonniere  was  to  be  sent  home  for  trial,  and  that  Ribault 
was  to  succeed  him  in  the  government. 

The  approach  of  Ribault  with  his  fleet  was  exceedingly  slow. 
Head-winds  and  storms  baffled  his  progress,  and  as  he  reached  the 
coast  of  Florida  he  loitered  along  its  bays  and  rivers,  seeking  to 
obtain  from  the  Indians  all  possible  tidings  of  the  colony,  before 


HISTORICAL    SUMMARY.  319 

venturing  upon  an  encounter  with  the  supposed  usurper  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  country.  When,  at  length,  he  drew  nigh  to 
La  Caroline,  so  suspiciously  did  he  approach,  that  he  drew  upon 
him  the  fire  of  Laudonniere's  men,  and,  but  for  the  distance,  and 
the  seasonable  outcry  which  was  made  by  his  followers,  announcing 
who  they  were,  a  conflict  might  have  ensued  between  the  parties. 
To  the  great  relief  of  Ribault,  Laudonniere  received  him  with 
submission.  The  former  apprised  him  frankly  of  the  reports  in 
France  to  his  discredit,  and  delivered  him  the  letters  of  Coligny 
to  the  same  effect.  Laudonniere  soon  succeeded  in  convincing 
his  successor  that  he  had  been  greatly  slandered — that  he  was 
entirely  innocent  of  royalty,  and  almost  of  state,  of  any  kind — 
that,  however  unfortunate  he  may  have  been — however  incom- 
petent to  the  duties  he  had  undertaken,  he  was  certainly  not 
guilty  of  the  extreme  follies,  the  presumption,  or  the  cruelty, 
which  constituted  the  several  points  in  the  indictment  urged 
against  him.  Kibault  strove  to  persuade  him  to  remain  in 
the  colony,  and  to  leave  his  justification  to  himself.  But  this 
Laudonniere  declined  to  do,  resolving  to  return  to  France  ; — a 
resolution  which,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  was  only  delayed  too 
long, — to  the  further  increase  of  the  misfortunes  of  our  captain. 
Meanwhile  he  fell  sick  of  a  fever,  and  the  authority  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Jean  Ribault,  whose  return  was  welcomed  by  crowds 
of  Indian  chiefs,  who  came  to  the  fortress  to  inquire  after  the 
newly-arrived  strangers.  They  soon  recognised  the  chief  by 
whose  hands  the  stone  pillar  had  been  reared,  which  stood  con- 
spicuous at  the  entrance  of  the  river.  He  was  easily  distinguish- 
ed, by  many  of  them,  by  reason  of  the  massy  beard  which  he 
wore.  They  embraced  him  with  signs  of  a  greater  cordiality  than 
they  were  disposed  to  show  to  his  immediate  predecessor.  The 


320  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Kings  Homoloa,  Seravahi,  Alimacani,  Malica,  and  Casti,  were 
among  the  first  to  recall  the  ties  of  their  former  friendship,  and  to 
brighten  the  ancient  chain  of  union,  by  fresh  pledges.  They 
brought  to  Ribault,  among  other  gifts,  large  pieces  of  gold,  which, 
in  their  language,  is  called  "  sieroa  pira,"  literally  "  red  metal," 
— which,  upon  being  assayed  by  the  refiner,  proved  to  be  "  perfect 
golde."  They  renewed  their  offers  to  conduct  him  to  the  Moun- 
tains of  Apalachia,  where  this  precious  metal  was  to  be  had  for  the 
gathering.  Ribault  was  not  more  inaccessible  to  this  attractive 
showing  than  Laudonniere  had  been ;  but  before  he  could  project 
the  desired  enterprise,  in  search  of  the  mountains  which  held  such 
glorious  possessions,  new  events  were  in  progress,  involving  such 
dangers  as  superseded  the  hopes  of  gain,  among  the  adventurers, 
by  necessities  which  made  them  doubtful  of  their  safety  The 
Spaniards,  of  whom  they  had  long  been  apprehensive,  were  at 
length  discovered  ^upon  the  coast. 


XXII. 


THE  FATE  OF  LA  CAROLINE. 

CHAPTER     I  . 

THE  fleet  of  Ribault  consisted  of  seven  vessels.  The  three 
smallest  of  these  had  ascended  the  river  to  the  fortress.  The  four 
larger,  which  were  men  of  war,  remained  in  the  open  roadstead. 
Here  they  were  joined  on  the  fourth  of  September  by  six  Spanish 
vessels  of  large  size  and  armament.  These  came  to  anchor,  and, 
at  their  first  coming,  gave  assurance  of  amity  to  the  Frenchmen. 
But  Ribault  had  been  warned,  prior  to  his  departure  from  France, 
that  the  Spaniards  were  to  be  suspected.  The  crowns  of  France 
and  Spain,  it  is  true,  were  at  peace,  but  the  Spaniards  themselves 
contemplated  settlements  in  Florida,  to  which  they  laid  claim,  by 
right  of  previous  discovery,  including,  under  this  general  title, 
territories  of  the  most  indefinite  extent.  Philip  the  Second,  that 
cold,  malignant  and  jealous  despot,  freed  by  the  amnesty  with 
France  from  the  cares  of  war  in  that  quarter,  now  addressed  his 
strength  and  employed  his  leisure  in  extending  equally"  his  sway, 
with  that  of  the  Catholic  faith,  among  the  red-men  of  America. 
Prior  to  the  settlements  of  Coligny,  he  had  begun  his  prepara- 
tions for  this  object.  The  charge  of  the  expedition  was  confided 
to  Don  Pedro  Melendez  de  Avilez,  an  officer  particularly  famous 
14* 


THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

among  his  countrymen  for  his  deeds  of  heroism  in  the  New  World. 
He  himself,  bore  a  considerable  portion  of  the  expense  of  the  en* 
terprise,  and  this  was  a  consideration  sufficiently  imposing  in  the 
eyes  of  his  sovereign,  to  secure  for  him  the  dignity  of  a  Spanish 
Adelantado,  with  the  hereditary  government  of  all  the  Floridas. 
It  was  while  engaged  in  the  preparations  for  this  expedition  that 
tidings  were  received  by  the  Spaniards  of  the  settlements  which 
had  been  begun  by  the  Huguenots.  The  enterprise  of  Don  Pedro 
de  Melendez  now  assumed  an  aspect  of  more  dignity.  It  became 
a  crusade,  and  the  eager  impulse  of  ambition  was  stimulated  by 
all  the  usual  arguments  in  favor  of  a  holy  war.  To  extirpate 
heresy  was  an  object  equally  grateful  to  both  the  legitimates  of 
France  and  Spain  ;  and  the  heartless  monarch  of  France,  Charles 
the  Ninth,  in  the  spirit  which  subsequently  gave  birth  to  the  hor- 
rible massacre  of  St  Bartholomew,  it  is  reported — though  the  act 
may  have  been  that  of  the  Queen  Mother — cheerfully  yielded  up 
his  Protestant  subjects  in  Florida,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Spanish  propagandist.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  French 
monarch  had  signified  to  his  Spanish  brother,  that  he  should  re- 
sent none  of  the  wrongs  done  to  the  colonies  of  Coligny ;  he  him- 
self being,  at  this  very  time,  busied  in  the  labor  which  was  pre- 
paring for  the  destruction  of  their  patron  and  brethren  at  home. 
Coligny  well  knew  how  little  was  the  real  sympathy  entertained 
by  the  monarch  for  this  class  of  his  subjects,  and  he  felt  that 
there  were  sufficient  reasons  to  fear,  and  to  be  watchful  of,  the 
Spaniards.  He  had  some  better  authority  than  mere  suspicion  for 
his  fear.  Just  as  Kibault  was  about  to  take  his  departure  from 
France,  the  Lord  Admiral  wrote  him  as  follows,  in  a  hasty  post- 
script : — "  As  I  was  closing  this  letter,  I  received  certain  advices 
that  Don  Pedro  Melendez  departeth  from  Spain  to  go  to  the  coast 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  323 

of  New  France,  (Florida,)  see  that  you  suffer  him  not  to  encroach 
upon  you,  no  more  than  you  will  suiTer  yourself  to  encroach  on  him" 

The  preparations  of  Melendez  began  to  assume  an  aspect  of 
great  and  imposing  magnificence.  Clergy  and  laity  crowded  to 
his  service.  Nearly  twenty  vessels,  some  of  very  considerable 
force,  were  provided ;  and  three  thousand  adventurers  assembled 
under  his  command.  But  Heaven  did  not  seem  at  first  to  smile 
upon  the  enterprise.  His  fleet  was  encountered  by  tempests  as 
had  been  the  "Grand  Armada,"  and  the  number  of  his  vessels 
before  he  reached  Porto  Rico  had  been  reduced  nearly  two  thirds. 
Some  doubt  now  arose  in  the  minds  of  the  Spanish  captains,  whe- 
ther they  were  in  sufficient  force  to  encounter  Ribault.  The  bi- 
gotry and  enthusiasm  of  Melendez  rejected  the  doubt  with  indig- 
nation. His  fanaticism  furnished  an  argument  in  behalf  of  his 
policy,  imposing  enough  to  the  superstitious  mind,  and  which  his 
followers  were  sufficiently  willing  to  accept.  "  The  Almighty," 
said  the  Adelantado,  "  has  reduced  our  armament,  only  that  his 
own  arm  might  achieve  the  holy  work." 

The  warning  of  danger  contained  in  the  letter  of  the  Lord 
Admiral  to  Ribault  did  not  fall  upon  unheeding  senses.  Still,  the 
French  captain  was  quite  unprepared  for  the  rapidity  of  the  pro- 
gress made  by  the  Spaniards.  When,  with  six  large  vessels,  they 
suddenly  appeared  in  the  roadstead  of  May  River,  Ribault  was  at 
La  Caroline.  His  officers  had  been  apprised  of  the  propriety  of 
distrusting  their  neighbors,  and  accordingly  showed  themselves 
suspicious  as  they  drew  nigh.  It  was  well  they  did  so.  In  the 
absence  of  Ribault,  with  three  of  the  ships  at  La  Caroline,  they  were 
inferior  in  force  to  the  armament  of  Melendez,  and  were  thus  doubly 
required  to  oppose  vigilance  to  fraud  and  force.  Fortunately,  the 
Spaniards  did  not  reach  the  road  till  near  evening,  when  they  had 


324  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

too  little  time  for  efficient  operations.  Hence  the  civility  of  their 
deportment,  and  the  pacific  character  of  their  assurances.  They 
lowered  sail,  cast  anchor,  and  forbore  all  offensive  demonstrations. 
But  one  circumstance  confirmed  the  apprehensions  of  the  French- 
men. In  the  brief  conversation  which  ensued  between  the  parties, 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  the  latter  inquired  after  the 
chief  captains  and  leaders  of  the  French  fleet,  calling  them  by 
their  names  and  surnames,  and  betraying  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  matters,  which  had  been  judiciously  kept  as  secret  as  possible 
in  France.  This  showed,  conclusively,  that,  before  Melendez  left 
Spain,  he  was  thoroughly  informed  by  those  who  knew,  in  France, 
of  the  condition,  conduct,  and  strength  of  Ribault's  armament. 
And  why  should  he  be  informed  of  these  particulars,  unless  there 
were  some  designs  for  acting  upon  this  information  ?  The  French 
captains  compared  notes  that  night,  in  respect  to  these  communi- 
cations, and  concurred  in  the  belief  that  they  stood  in  danger  of 
assault.  They  prepared  themselves  accordingly,  to  cut  and  run, 
with  the  first  appearance  of  dawn,  or  danger.  "With  the  break  of 
day,  the  Spaniards  began  to  draw  nigh  to  our  Frenchmen; 
but  the  sails  of  these  were  already  hoisted  to  the  breeze.  Their 
cables  were  severed,  at  the  first  sign  of  hostility,  and  the  chase 
begun  within  the  greatest  animation.  But,  if  the  ships  of  the 
Huguenots  were  deficient  in  force,  they  had  the  advantage  of 
their  enemies  in  speed.  They  showed  the  Spaniards  a  clean  pair 
of  heels,  and  suffered  nothing  from  the  distant  cannonade  with 
which  their  pursuers  sought  to  cripple  their  flight.  The  chase 
was  continued  through  the  day.  With  the  approach  of  evening, 
the  Spaniards  tacked  ship  and  stood  for  the  River  Seloy,  or  Selooe, 
called  by  the  French,  the  River  of  Dolphins  ;  a  distance,  over- 
land, of  but  eight  or  ten  leagues  from  La  Caroline.  Finding  that 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  325 

they  had  the  advantage  of  their  enemies  in  fleetness,  the  French 
vessels  came  about  also,  and  followed  them  at  a  respectful  distance. 
Having  made  all  the  discoveries  which  were  possible,  they  return- 
ed to  May  River,  when  Ribault  came  aboard.  They  reported  to 
him  that  the  great  ship  of  the  Spaniards,  called  "  The  Trinity," 
still  kept  the  sea ;  that  three  other  ships  had  entered  the  River  of 
Dolphins  ;  that  three  others  remained  at  its  mouth  ;  and  that  the 
Spaniards  had  evidently  employed  themselves  in  putting  soldiers, 
with  arms,  munition,  and  provisions,  upon  shore.  These,  and 
further  facts,  reached  him  from  other  quarters.  Emoloa,  one  of 
the  Indian  kings  in  amity  with  the  French,  sent  them  word  that 
the  Spaniards  had  gone  on  shore  at  Seloy  in  great  numbers — that 
they  had  dispossessed  the  natives  of  their  houses  at  that  village  ; 
had  put  their  "  negro  slaves,  whom  they  had  brought  to  labor,"  in 
possession  of  them  ;  and  were  already  busy  in  entrenching  them- 
selves in  the  place,  making  it  a  regular  encampment. 

Not  doubting  that  they  meant  to  assail  and  harrass  the  settle- 
ment of  La  Caroline  from  this  point,  with  the  view  to  expelling 
the  colonists  from  the  country,  Ribault  boldly  conceived  the  idea 
of  taking  the  initiate  in  the  war.  He  first  called  a  council  of  his 
chief  captains.  They  assembled  in  the  chamber  of  Laudonniere, 
that,  person  being  sick.  Here  Ribault  commenced  by  showing  the 
relative  condition  of  their  own  and  the  enemy's  strength.  His 
conclusion,  from  his  array  of  all  the  facts,  was,  that  the  true 
policy  required  that  he  should  embark  with  all  his  forces,  and  seek 
the  fleet  of  the  Spaniards,  particularly  at  a  moment  when  it  was 
somewhat  scattered ;  when  one  great  ship  only  kept  the  seas ; 
when  the  rest  were  in  no  situation  to  support  each  other  in  the 
event  of  sudden  assault,  and  when  the  troops  of  the  Adelantado, 
partly  on  the  shore,  and  partly  in»1tis  vessels,  were,  very  probably, 


326  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

not  in  proper  order  to  be  used  successfully.  His  argument  was 
not  deficient  in  force  or  propriety.  Certainly,  with  his  own  seven 
ships,  all  brought  together,  and  all  his  strength  in  compact  order 
and  fit  for  service,  he  might  reasonably  hope  to  fall  successfully 
upon  the  divided  forces  and  scattered  squadrons  of  his  enemy,  and 
sweep  them  equally  from  sea  and  land. 

But  Laudonniere  had  his  argument  also,  and  it  was  not  without 
its  significance.  He  opposed  the  scheme  'of  Ribault  entirely ;  re- 
presenting the  defenceless  condition  of  the  fortress,  and  the  danger 
to  the  fleet  at  sea,  and  upon  the  coast,  during  a  season  pro- 
verbially distinguished  by  storms  and  hurricanes.  His  counsel 
was  approved  of  by  other  captains ;  but  Ribault,  an  old  soldier 
and  sea  captain,  was  too  eager  to  engage  the  enemy  to  listen  to 
arguments  that  seemed  to  partake  of  the  pusillanimous.  It  was 
very  evident  that  he  did  not  regard  Laudonniere  as  the  best  of 
advisers  in  the  work  of  war.  He  took  his  own  head  accordingly, 
and  commanded  all  soldiers  that  belonged  to  his  command  to  go 
on  board  their  vessels.  Not  satisfied  with  this  force,  he  lessened 
the  strength  of  the  garrison  by  taking  a  detachment  of  its  best 
men,  leaving  few  to  keep  the  post  but  the  invalids,  who,  like 
Laudonniere,  were  suffering,  or  but  just  recovering,  from  the  dis- 
eases of  the  climate  in  midsummer.  Laudonniere  expostulated, 
but  in  vain,  against  this  appropriation  of  his  garrison.  On  the 
eighth  of  September,  Ribault  left  the  roadstead  in  pursuit  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  Laudonniere  never  beheld  him  again.  That  very 
day  the  skies  were  swallowed  up  in  tempests.  Such  tempests 
were  never  beheld  before  upon  the  coast.  The  storms  prevailed 
for  several  days,  at  the  end  of  which  time,  apprehending  the  worst, 
Laudonniere  mustered  his  command,  and  proceeded  to  put  the 
fortress  in  the  best  possible  cdhdition  of  defence.  To  repair  the 


THE    FATti    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  327 

portions  of  the  wall  which  had  been  thrown  down,  to  restore  the 
palisades  stretching  from  the  fortress  to  the  river,  was  a  work  of 
equal  necessity  and  difficulty ;  which,  with  all  the  diligence  of 
the  Frenchmen,  advanced  slowly,  in  consequence  of  the  violence 
aud  long  continuance  of  the  stormy  weather.  The  whole  force 
left  in  the  garrison  consisted  of  but  eighty-six  persons  supposed 
to  be  capable  of  bearing  arms.  Of  their  doubtful  efficiency  we 
may  boldly  infer  from  these  facts.  Several  of  them  were  mere 
boys,  with  sinews  yet  unhardened  into  manhood.  Some  were  old 
men,  completely  hors  de  combat  from  the  general  exhaustion  of 
their  energies  ;  many  were  still  suffering  from  green  wounds,  got 
in  the  war  with  Olata  Utina,  and  others  again  were  wholly  unpro- 
vided with  weapons.  Relying  upon  the  assumption  that  he  should 
find  his  enemy  at  sea  and  in  force,  Ribault  had  stripped  the  gar- 
rison of  its  real  manhood.  His  vessels  being  better  sailers  than 
those  of  the  Spaniards,  he  took  for  granted  that  he  should  be 
able  to  interpose,  at  any  moment,  for  the  safety  of  La  Caroline, 
should  any  demonstration  be  made  against  it.  This  was  assuming 
quite  too  much.  It  allowed  nothing  for  the  caprices  of  wind  and 
wave  ;  for  the  sudden  rising  of  gales  and  tempests ;  and  accord- 
ed too  little  to  the  cool  prudence,  and  calculating  generalship  of 
Pedro  Melendez,  one  of  the  most  shrewd,  circumspect  and  suc- 
cessful of  the  Spanish  generals  of  the  period :  nor,  waiving  these 
considerations,  was  the  policy  of  Ribault  to  be  defended,  when 
it  is  remembered  that  he  had  been  specially  counselled  that  the 
Spaniards  had  made  their  lodgments  in  force  upon  the  shores  Ox 
Florida,  not  many  leagues,  by  land,  from  the  endangered  fortress. 
His  single  virtue  of  courage  blinded  him  to  the  danger  from  the 
former.  He  calculated  first  to  destroy  the  fleet  of  the  enemy, 
thus  cutting  off  all  resource  and  all  escape,  and  then  to  descend 


328  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

upon  the  troops  on  land,  before  they  could  fortify  their  cainp, 
and  overwhelm  them  with  his  superior  and  unembarrassed  forces. 
We  shall  see,  hereafter,  the  issue  of  all  these  calculations.  In  all 
probability  his  decision  was  influenced  quite  as  much  by  his  fana- 
ticism as  his  courage.  He  hated  the  Spaniards  as  Catholics, 
quite  as  much  as  they  hated  him  and  his  flock  as  heretics.  This 
rage  blinded  the  judgment  of  the  veteran  soldier,  upon  whom  for- 
tune was  not  disposed  to  smile. 

The  condition  of  things  at  La  Caroline, when  Ribault  took  his 
departure,  deplorable  enough  as  we  have  seen,  was  rendered  still 
worse  by  another  deficiency,  the  fruit  of  this  decision  of  the 
commander.  The  supplies  of  food  which  were  originally  brought 
out  for  the  garrison,  were  mostly  appropriated  for  the  uses  of  the 
fleet,  allowing  for  its  possibly  prolonged  absence  upon  the  seas. 
This  absorbed  the  better  portion  of  the  store  which  was  necessary 
for  the  daily  consumption  at  La  Caroline.  A  survey  of  the  quan- 
tity in  the  granary  of  the  fortress,  made  immediately  after  the 
departure  of  the  fleet,  led  to  the  necessity  of  stinting  the  daily 
allowance  of  the  garrison.  Thus,  then,  with  provisions  short, 
with  Laudonniere  sick,  and  otherwise  incompetent, — with  the 
men  equally  few  and  feeble,  improvident  hitherto,  and  now  spirit- 
less,— the  labors  of  defence  and  preparation  at  La  Caroline 
went  forward  slowly;  and  its  watch  was  maintained  with  very 
doubtful  vigilance.  We  have  seen  enough,  in  the  previous  diffi- 
culties of  the  commandant  with  his  people,  to  form  a  just  judg- 
ment of  the  small  subordination  which  he  usually  maintained. 
His  government  was  by  no  means  improved  with  the  obvious 
necessity  before  him,  and  the  hourly  increase  of  peril.  Alarmed, 
at  first,  by  the  condition  in  which  he  had  been  left,  Laudonniere, 
as  has  been  stated,  proceeded  with  the  show  of  diligence,  rather 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  329 

than  its  actual  working,  to  repair  the  fortress,  and  put  himself  in 
order  for  defence.  But,  with  the  appearance  of  bad  weather,  his 
exertions  relaxed ;  his  people,  accustomed  to  wait  upon  Provi- 
dence and  the  Indians, — praying  little  to  the  One  and  prey- 
ing much  upon  the  others — very  soon  discontinued  their  unfa- 
miliar and  disagreeable  exertions.  They  could  not  suppose — 
averse  themselves  to  bad  weather — that  the  Spaniards  could  pos- 
sibly expose  themselves  to  chills  and  fevers  during  an  equinoctial 
tempest,  under  any  idle  impulses  of  enterprise  and  duty  ;  and 
their  watch  was  maintained  with  very  doubtful  vigilance.  On 
the  night  of  the  nineteenth  of  September,  Monsieur  de  La  Vigne 
was  appointed  to  keep  guard  with  his  company.  But  Monsieur 
de  La  Vigne  had  a  tender  heart,  and  felt  for  his  soldiers  in  bad 
weather.  Seeing  the  rain  continue  and  increase,  "  he  pitied  the 
sentinels,  so  much  moyled  and  wet ;  and  thinking  the  Spaniards 
would  not  have  come  in  such  a  strange  time,  he  let  them  depart, 
and,  to  say  the  truth,  hee  went  himself  into  his  lodging.''  But 
the  Spaniards  appear  to  have  been  men  of  inferior  tastes,  and  of 
a  delicacy  less  sympathising  and  scrupulous  than  Monsieur  de 
La  Vigne.  Bad  weather  appeared  to  agree  with  them,  and  we 
shall  see  that  they  somewhat  enjoyed  the  very  showers,  from  the 
annoyance  of  which  our  French  sentinels  were  so  pleasantly  re- 
lieved. We  shall  hear  of  these  things  hereafter.  In  the  mean- 
while, let  us  look  in  upon  the  Adelantado  of  Florida,  Pedro 
Melendez,  a  strong,  true  man,  in  spite  of  a  savage  nature  and  a 
maddening  fanaticism, — let  us  see  him  and  the  progress  of  his 
fortunes,  where  he  plants  the  broad  banner  of  Spain,  with  its  cas- 
tellated towers,  upon  the  lonely  Indian  waters  of  the  Selooe,  that 
river  which  our  Huguenots  had  previously  dignified  with  the  title 
of  "  the  Dolphin.'' 


330  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

CHAPTER  II. 

RIBAULT'S  FORTUNES  AT  SELOOE. 

IT  was  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  August,  the  day  on  which  tho 
Spaniards  celebrated  the  festival  of  St.  Augustine,  that  the  Adel 
antado  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Selooe  or  Dolphin  River.  He 
was  attracted  by  the  aspect  of  the  place,  and  here  resolved  to 
establish  a  settlement  and  fortress.  He  gave  the  name  of  the 
Saint  to  the  settlement.  Having  landed  a  portion  of  his  forces, 
he  found  himself  welcomed  by  the  savages,  whom  he  treated  with 
kindness  and  who  requited  him  with  assurances  of  friendship 
From  them  he  learned  something  of  the  French  settlements,  and 
of  their  vessels  at  the  mouth  of  the  May  River,  and  he  resolved 
to  attempt  the  surprise  of  his  enemies.  We  have  seen  the  failure 
of  this  attempt.  Disappointed  in  his  first  desire,  like  the  tiger 
who  returns  to  crouch  again  within  the  jungle  from  which  he  has 
unsuccessfully  sprung,  Melendez  made  his  way  back  to  the  waters 
of  the  Selooe,  where  he  proposed  to  plant  his  settlement,  and 
which  his  troops  were  already  beginning  to  entrench.  Here  he 
employed  himself  in  taking  formal  possession  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  and  having  celebrated  the  Divine  mysteries  in  a 
manner  at  once  solemn  and  ostentatious,  he  swore  his  officers  to 
fidelity  in  the  prosecution  of  the  expedition,  upon  the  Holy 
Sacrament. 

It  was  while  most  busy  with  his  preparations,  that  the  fleet  of 
Ribault  made  its  appearance  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The 
two  heaviest  of  the  Spanish  vessels,  being  relieved  of  their  arma- 
ment and  troops, which  had  been  transferred  to  the  land,  had 
been  despatched,  on  the  approach  of  the  threatened  danger,  with 
all  haste  to  Hispaniola.  The  two  other  vessels,  at  the  bar  or  en- 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  331 

trance  of  the  harbor,  were  unequal  to  the  conflict  with  the  su- 
perior squadron  of  Ribault.  Melendez  was  embarked  in  one  of 
them,  and  the  three  lighter  vessels  of  the  French,  built  especially 
for  penetrating  shallow  waters,  were  pressing  forward  to  the  cer- 
tain capture  of  their  prey,  for  which  there  seemed  no  possibility 
of  escape.  Melendez  felt  all  his  danger,  but  he  had  prepared 
himself  for  a  deadly  struggle,  and  was  especially  confident  in  the 
enthusiastic  conviction  that  himself  and  his  design  were  equally  the 
concern  of  Providence.  It  would  seem  that  fortune  was  solici- 
citous  to  justify  the  convictions  of  so  much  self-esteem.  Ribault's 
extreme  caution  in  sounding  the  bar  to  which  his  vessels  were 
approaching,  lost  him  two  precious  hours  ;  but  for  which  his 
conquest  must  have  been  certain.  There  was  no  hope,  else,  un- 
less in  some  such  miraculous  protection  as  that  upon  which  the 
Spanish  general  seemed  to  count.  Had  these  two  vessels  been 
taken  and  Melendez  a  prisoner,  the  descent  upon  the  dismayed 
troops  on  shore,  not  yet  entrenched,  and  in  no  preparation  for 
the  conflict  with  an  equal  or  superior  enemy,  and  the  annihi- 
lation of  the  settlement  must  have  ensued.  The  consequence 
of  such  an  event  might  have  changed  the  whole  destinies  of  Flo- 
rida, might  have  established  the  Huguenot  colonies  firmly  upon 
the  soil,  and  given  to  the  French  such  a  firm  possession  of  the 
land,  as  might  have  kept  the  fleur-de-lis  waving  from  its  sum- 
mits to  this  very  day.  But  the  miracle  was  not  wanting 
which  the  Spanish  Adelantado  expected.  In  the  very  moment 
when  the  hands  of  Ribault,  were  stretched  to  seize  his  prizes,  the 
sudden  roar  of  the  hurricane  came  booming  along  the  deep.  The 
sea  rose  between  the  assailant  and  his  prey, — the  storm  parted 
them,  and  while  the  feebler  vessels  of  Melendez,  partially  under 
the  security  of  the  land,  swept  back  towards  the  settlement 


332  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

which  he  had  made  on  shore,  the  brigantines  and  bateaux  of  Ri- 
bault  were  forced  to  rejoin  their  greater  vessels,  and  they  all 
bore  away  to  sea  before  the  gale.  Under  the  wild  norther  that 
rushed  down  upon  his  squadron,  Ribault  with  a  groan  of  rage 
and  disappointment,  abandoned  the  conquest  which  seemed  al- 
ready in  his  grasp. 

Melendez  promptly  availed  himself  of  the  Providential  event, 
to  insist  among  his  people  upon  the  efficiency  of  his  prayers. 
They  had  previously  been  desponding.  They  felt  their  isolation, 
and  exaggerated  its  danger.  The  departure  of  their  ships 
for  Hispaniola,  their  frequent  previous  disasters,  the  dispersion 
of  nearly  two  thirds  of  the  squadron  with  which  they  had  left  the 
port  of  Cadiz,  but  three  months  before ;  the  labors  and  pri- 
vations which  already  began  to  press  upon  them  with  a  novel 
force  ;  all  conspired  to  dispirit  them,  and  made  them  despair  .of 
a  progress  in  which  they  were  likely  to  suffer  the  buffetings  only, 
without  any  of  the  rewards  of  fortune ; — and  when  they  beheld 
the  approaching  squadron  of  the  French,  in  force  so  superior  as 
to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  capture  of  their  only  remaining  vessels, 
they  yielded  themselves  up  to  a  feeling  of  utter  self-abandonment, 
to  which  the  stern,  grave  self-reliance  of  Melendez  afforded  no 
encouragement.  But  when,  with  broad  sweep  of  arm,  he  pointed 
to  the  awful  rising  of  the  great  billows  of  the  sea,  the  wild 
raging  of  cloud  and  storm  in  the  heavens,  the  scudding  flight 
of  the  trembling  ships  of  Ribault,  their  white  wings  gradu- 
ally disappearing  in  distance  and  darkness  like  feeble  birds  borne 
recklessly  forward  in  the  wild  fury  of  the  tempest,  he  could,  with 
wonderful  potency,  appeal  to  his  people  to  acknowledge  the 
wonders  that  the  Lord  had  done  for  them  that  day. 

"  Call  you  this  the  cause  of  our  king  only,  in  which  we  are 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  333 

engaged  my  brethren  ?  Oh  !  shallow  vanity  !  And  yet,  you  say 
rightly.  It  is  the  cause  of  our  king — the  greatest  of  all  kings — 
the  king  of  kings ;  and  he  will  make  it  triumphant  in  all  lands, 
even  though  the  base  and  the  timid  shall  despair  equally  of  them- 
selves and  of  Him  !  We  shall  never,  my  brethren,  abandon  this 
cause  to  which  we  have  sworn  our  souls,  in  life  and  death,  with- 
out incurring  the  eternal  malediction  of  the  Most  High  God, 
forever  blessed  be  his  name  !  We  are  surrounded  by  enemies,  my 
friends ;  we  are  few  and  we  are  feeble  ;  but  what  is  our  might, 
when  the  tempest  rises  like  a  wall  between  us  and  our  foes,  and 
in  our  greatest  extremity,  the  hand  of  God  stretches  forth  from 
the  cloud,  and  plucks  us  safely  from  the  danger.  Be  of  good 
heart,  then ;  put  on  a  fearless  courage  ;  believe  that  the  cause  is 
holy  in  which  ye  strive,  and  the  God  of  Battles  will  most  surely 
range  himself  upon  our  side  !" 

Loud  cries  of  exultation  from  his  people  answered  this  address. 
A  thousand  voices  renewed  their  vows  of  fidelity,  and  pledged 
themselves  to  follow  blindly  wherever  he  should  lead.  He  com- 
manded that  a  solemn  mass  of  the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  said  that 
night,  and  that  all  the  army  should  be  present.  He  vouchsafed 
no  farther  words.  Nothing,  he  well  knew,  that  he  could  say, 
could  possibly  add  to  the  miraculous  event  that  had  saved  their 
vessels,  before  their  own  eyes,  in  the  very  moment  of  destruc- 
tion. "  Our  prayers,  our  faith,  my  brethren  ;  to  these  we  owe 
the  saving  mercies  of  the  Blessed  Jesus !" 


334  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

CHAPTER  III. 

MELENDEZ    AT    SELOOE. 

BUT  the  enthusiasm  excited  by  the  dispersion  of  Ribault's  ves- 
sels, and  the  escape  of  their  own,  was  of  short-lived  duration 
among  the  Spaniards  at  Selooe.  Human  nature  may  obey  a 
grateful  impulse,  and,while  it  lasts,  will  be  insensible  to  common 
dangers  and  common  necessities ;  but  the  enthusiasm  which  ex- 
cites and  strengthens  for  a  season,  is  one  also  which  finally  ex- 
hausts ;  and  when  the  enervation  which  succeeds  to  a  high-strung 
exultation,  is  followed  by  great  physical  trials,  and  the  continued 
pressure  of  untoward  events,  the  creature  nature  is  quite  too  apt 
to  triumph  over  that  nobler  spirit  whose  very  intensity  is  fatal  to 
its  length  of  life.  The  sign  of  providential  favor  which  they  had 
beheld  wrought  visibly  in  their  behalf,  the  inspiriting  language  of 
their  stern  and  solemn  leader,  the  offices  of  religion,  meant  to 
evoke  the  presence  of  the  Deity,  and  to  secure,  by  appropriate 
rites,  his  farther  protection,  of  which  they  had  recently  wit- 
nessed so  wonderful  a  manifestation  ;  these  wore  away  in  their 
effects  upon  our  Spaniards,  and  in  the  toils  and  sufferings  which 
they  were  subsequently  to  endure. 

Perhaps  nothing  more  greatly  depresses  the  ordinary  nature 
than  an  abode  in  strange  and  savage  regions  during  a  prevalence 
of  cheerless,  unfriendly  weather.  The  soul  recoils  as  it  were 
upon  itself,  under  the  ungenial  pressure  from  without,  and  looking 
entirely  within,  finds  nothing  but  wants  which  it  is  impossible  to 
satisfy.  Memory  then  studiously  recals,  as  if  for  the  purposes 
of  torture  and  annoyance,  the  aspects  of  the  beloved  ones 
who  are  far  from  us  in  foreign  lands.  The  joys  which  we  have 
had  with  old  and  loving  associates,  the  sweets  of  dear  homes,  and 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  335 

the  sounds  of  friendly  voices,  these  are  the  treasures  which  she 
conjures  up  at  such  periods,  in  mournful  contrast  with  present 
privations  and  all  manner  of  denial.  But  if,  in  addition  to  these, 
we  are  conscious  of  accumulating  dangers ;  if  the  storm  and 
savage  howl  without ;  if  hunger  craves  without  being  answered, 
and  thirst  raves  for  the  drop  of  moisture  to  cool  its  tongue,  in 
vain,  we  must  not  wonder  if  the  ordinary  nature  sinks  under  its 
sorrows  and  apprehension,  and  loses  all  the  elastic  courage  which 
would  prompt  endeavor  and  conduct  to  triumph.  The  master 
mind  alone,  may  find  itself  strong  under  these  circumstances — the 
man  of  inexorable  will,  great  faith,  and  a  far-sighted  apprecia- 
tion of  the  future  and  its  compensations.  But  it  is  the  master 
mind  only  which  bears  up  thus  greatly.  The  common  herd  is 
made  of  very  different  materials,  and  in  quite  another  mould. 

Don  Pedro  de  Melendez  was  one  of  the  few  minds  thus  extra- 
ordinarily endowed.  His  prudence,  keeping  due  pace  with  his 
religious  fanaticism,  approved  him  a  peculiar  character  ;  a  man 
of  rare  energies,  extraordinary  foresight  and  indomitable  will. 
Resolute  for  the  destruction  of  the  heretics  of  La  Caroline,  he 
was  yet  one  of  that  class  of  persons — how  few — who  can  forego 
the  premature  attempt  to  gratify  a  raging  appetite,  in  recognition 
of  those  embarrassing  circumstances,  which  if  left  unregarded, 
would  only  operate  for  its  defeat.  He  could  wait  the  season, 
with  all  patience,  when  desire  might  be  crowned  with  fruition. 
Yet  was  his  thirst  a  raging  one — a  master  passion — absorbing  every 
other  in  his  soul.  All  that  had  taken  place  on  land  and  sea,  had 
been  certainly  foreseen  by  him.  Thus  had  he  dispatched  his 
ships  seasonably  to  Hispaniola,  as  well  for  their  security,  as  to 
afford  him  succor.  If  he  doubted  for  the  safety  of  those  which 
remained  to  him,  on  the  approach  of  Ribault,  he  was  lettered  of 


336  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

his  doubts  by  his  faith  in  the  interposition  of  the  Deity,  and  went 
forth  to  the  encounter,  himself  heading  the  forlorn  hope,  as  it 
were,  without  any  misgivings  of  the  result.  He  knew  that  the 
Deity  would,  in  some  manner,  make  himself  manifest  in  succor 
for  the  true  believer,  even  then  engaged  in  the  maintenance  of 
His  cause.  He  had  foreseen  the  threatening  aspects  of  the  hea- 
vens, the  wild  tumults  of  the  sea,  the  sullen  and  angry  caprices 
of  the  winds.  He  felt  that  storm  and  terror  were  in  prospect, 
and  that  they  were  meant  as  his  defences  against  his  enemy ! 
But  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  adopting  all  proper  human 
precautions.  He  did  not  peril  his  prows  beyond  the  shoals  which 
environed  the  entrance  to  his  harborage.  He  did  not  trust  them 
beyond  the  natural  bars  at  the  mouth  of  the  Selooe,  leaving  them 
to  the  unrestrained  fury  of  the  demon  winds  that  sweep  the  blue 
waters  of  the  gulf.  Nor,  assuming  the  bare  possibility  that  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Deity  might  be  withheld  from  the  true  believer,  as 
much  for  the  trial  of  his  valor  as  his  faith,  in  the  moment  of  encoun- 
ter with  the  heretic,  was  the  Adelantado  neglectful  of  the  means  for 
further  struggle,  should  the  assailants,  successful  with  his  ship- 
ping, approach  the  shores  of  Selooe  in  the  endeavor  to  destroy 
his  army.  This  he  sought  to  protect  by  the  best  possible  de- 
fences. His  troops  were  under  arms  in  order  for  battle.  Every 
possible  advantage  of  trench  and  picket  was  employed  for  giving 
them  additional  securities.  His  people  had  already  taken  pos- 
session of  the  Indian  village,  from  whence  the  savages  had  been 
expelled  ;  and  their  dwellings  were  converted  into  temporary  for- 
tresses, each  garrisoned  with  its  selected  band.  It  is  wonderful, 
how  the  veteran  chieftain  toiled,  in  the  endeavor  to  secure  his  po- 
sition. While  he  felt  how  little  the  Deity  needed  the  strength  of 
man,  in  working  out  the  purposes  of  destiny,  he  well  knew  how 


THE    FATE   OF    LA    CAROLINE.  337 

necessary  it  was  that  man  should  show  himself  worthy,  by  his 
prudence  and  preparations,  of  the  intervention  and  the  care  of 
Deity. 

We  have  seen  the  issue  of  the  unfortunate  attempt  of  Ribault 
upon  his  enemy ;  with  the  absence  of  immediate  danger,  the  first 
tumults  of  exultation  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards,  subsided  into 
a  sullen  and  humiliating  repose.  As  night  came  on,  they  mo- 
mently began  to  feel  the  increasing  annoyances  of  their  situation. 
That  they  were  in  temporary  security  from  the  heretic  French, 
left  them  free  to  consider,  and  to  feel,  the  insecurity  and  the 
unfriendly  solitude  of  their  situation.  The  frail  palm  covered 
huts  of  the  Floridian  savages,  on  the  banks  of  their  now  raging 
river,  with  the  tempest  roaring  among  the  affrighted  forest  trees, 
afforded  but  a  sorry  shelter  to  their  numerous  hosts.  Darkness 
and  thick  night  closed  in  upon  them  in  their  dreary  and  com- 
fortless abodes,  and  their  hearts  sunk  appalled  beneath  the  ter- 
rific bursts  of  thunder  that  seemed  to  rock  the  very  earth  upon 
which  they  stood.  They  were  not  the  tried  veterans  of  Spain. 
Many  among  them  wore  weapons  for  the  first  time,  and  all  were 
totally  inexperienced  in  that  foreign  hemisphere,  in  which  the 
elements  wore  aspects  of  terror  which  had  never  before  entered 
their  imaginations.  Their  officers  were  mostly  able  men  and 
good  soldiers,  but  even  these  had  enjoyed  but  small  experience  in 
the  new  world.  The  levies  of  Melendez  had  been  hurriedly 
made,  with  the  view  to  anticipate  the  progress  of  Ribault.  They 
were  not  such  as  that  iron-hearted  leader  would  have  chosen  for 
the  terrible  warfare  which  he  had  in  view.  Chilled  by  the  un- 
genial  atmosphere,  confounded  with  torrents  such  as  they  had 
never  before  beheld,  and  which  seemed  to  threaten  the  return  of 

the  deluge,    they    exaggerated  the  evils  of  their  situation  and 
15 


338  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

feared  the  worst.  They  were  not  ill-advised  upon  the  subject  of 
their  own  strength  and  resources,  and  whatever  they  might  hope 
in  respect  to  the  probable  ill-fortunes  of  Ribault  and  his  fleet,  they 
knew  him  to  be  an  experienced  soldier,  and  that  his  armament 
was  superior,  while  his  numbers  were  quite  equal  to  their  own. 
They  now  knew  that  they  were  the  objects  of  his  search  and  hate, 
as  he  had  been  of  theirs,  and  they  still  looked  with  dread  to  his 
reappearance,  suddenly,  and  the  coming  of  a  conflict  which  should 
add  new  terrors  to  the  storm.  They  could  not  conceive  the  ex- 
tent of  the  securities  which  they  enjoyed,  and  fancied  that  with 
a  far  better  acquaintance  with  the  country  than  they  possessed, 
he  would  reappear  among  them  at  the  moment  when  least  ex- 
pected, and  that  they  should  perish  beneath  the  fury  of  his  fierce 
assault. 

While  thus  they  brooded  over  their  situation,  officers  and  men 
cowering  in  the  frail  habitations  of  the  Indians,  through  which 
the  rushing  torrents  descended  without  impediment,  extinguish- 
ing their  fires,  and  leaving  them  with  no  light  but  that  fitful  one, 
the  fierce  flashes  from  the  clouds,  which  threatened  them  with 
destruction  while  illuminating  the  pale  faces  of  each  weary 
watcher; — Pedro  Melendez,  strengthened  by  higher  if  not  a  holier 
support,  disdained  the  miserable  shelter  of  the  hovels  where  they 
crouched  together.  He  trod  the  shore  and  forest  pathways 
without  sign  of  fear  or  shows  of  disquiet  or  annoyance.  He 
smiled  at  the  sufferings  which  he  yet  strove  to  alleviate.  He 
opened  his  stores  for  the  relief  of  his  people,  yet  partook  of  none 
himself.  He  gave  them  food  and  wine  of  his  own,  even  while  he 
smiled  scornfully  to  see  them  eat  and  drink.  His  solicitude 
equally  provided  against  their  dangers  and  their  fears.  He 
placed  the  necessary  guards  against  the  one,  and  soothed  or 


THE    FATE    OP    LA    CAROLINE.  339 

mocked  the  other.  He  alone  appeared  unmoved  amidst  the 
storm,  and  might  be  seen  with  unhelmed  head,  passing  from 
cot  to  cot,  and  from  watch  to  watch,  urging  vigilance,  providing 
relief,  and  encouraging  the  desponding  with  a  voice  of  cheer 
His  eye  took  in  without  shrinking,  all  the  aspects  of  the  storm. 
He  gazed  with  uplifted  spirit  as  the  wild  red  flashes  cleft  the 
great  black  clouds  which  enveloped  the  forests  in  a  shroud. 
"Ay!"  he  exclaimed,  "  verily,  O  Lord !  thou  hast  taken  this 
work  into  thine  own  hands  !"  And  thus  he  went  to  and  fro, 
without  complaint,  or  suffering,  or  fatigue,  till  his  lieutenants 
with  shame  beheld  the  example  of  the  veteran  whom  they  had 
not  soul  or  strength  to  emulate.  His  deportment  was  no  less  a 
marvel  than  a  reproach  to  his  people.  They  could  not  account 
for  that  seemingly  unseasonable  delight  which  was  apparent  in  his 
face,  in  the  exulting  tones  of  his  voice,  and  the  eager  impulse  of 
his  action.  That  a  glow-like  inspiration  should  lighten  up  his 
features,  and  give  richness  and  power  to  his  voice,  while  they 
cowered  from  the  storm  and  darkness  in  fear  and  trembling, 
seemed  to  them  indications  rather  of  madness  than  of  wisdom. 
But  in  truth,  it  was  inspiration.  Melendez  had  been  visited  by 
one  of  those  sudden  flashes  of  thought  which  open  the  pathway 
to  a  great  performance.  A  brave  design  filled  his  soul ;  a  sud- 
den bright  conception,  to  the  proper  utterance  of  which  he  hur- 
ried with  a  due  delight.  He  summoned  his  chief  leaders  to 
consultation  in  the  great  council  house  of  the  tribe  of  Selooe,  a 
round  fabric  of  mixed  earth  and  logs,  with  a  frail  palm  leaf 
thatch,  fragments  of  which,  the  fierce  efforts  of  the  tempest 
momently  tore  away.  The  rain  rushed  through  the  rents  of  ruin, 
the  wind  shrieked  through  the  numerous  breaches  in  the  walls, 
but  Melendez  stood  in  the  midst,  heedless  of  these  annoyances, 


340  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

or  only  heedful  of  them  so  far  as  to  esteem  them  services  and 
blessings.  He  knew  the  people  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  their 
fears.,  their  weaknesses,  and  discontents,  the  base  nature  of  many 
of  their  desires,  and  the  utter  incapacity  of  all  to  realize  the 
intense  enthusiasm  which  shone  within  his  soul.  He  could  scorn 
them,  but  he  had  to  use  them.  He  despised  their  imbecility,  but 
felt  how  necessary  it  was  too  temporize  with  their  moods,  and 
make  them  rather  forgetful  of  their  infirmities,  than  openly  to 
denounce  and  mock  them.  His  eye  was  fastened  upon  certain 
of  his  chiefs  in  especial,  whose  weaknesses  were  more  likely  to 
endanger  his  objects  than  those  of  the  rest,  since  these  were  as- 
sociated with  a  certain  degree  of  pretension  arising  from  their 
occupance  of  place.  But  there  is  no  one  in  more  complete  pos- 
session of  the  subtleties  of  the  politician,  than  the  fanatic  of  in- 
tense will.  All  his  powers  are  concentrated  upon  the  single  ob- 
ject, and  he  values  this  too  highly  to  endanger  it  by  any  rashness. 
He  can  make  allowances  for  the  weaker  among  the  brethren, 
so  long  as  they  have  the  power  to  yield  service ;  he  only  cuts 
them  down  ruthlessly,  when,  like  the  tree  bringing  forth  no  fruit, 
the  question  naturally  occurs  to  the  politician,  "  Why  cumbereth 
it  the  ground  ?"  Melendez  was  prepared  to  act  the  politician 
amidst  all  his  fanaticism.  For  this  reason,  though  his  resolution 
was  inexorably  taken,  he  summoned  his  officers  to  a  solemn  deli- 
beration— a  council  of  war — to  determine  upon  what  should  be 
done  in  the  circumstances  in  which  they  stood. 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  341 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    COUNCIL    OF    WAR    AT    SELOOE. 

IT  was  midnight  when  the  assemblage  of  the  Spanish  captains 
took  place  in  the  great  council  house  of  the  savages  of  Selooe. 
Already,  that  night,  had  the  place  been  consedated  by  the  per- 
formance of  a  solemn  mass  in  honor  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
purposes  of  the  present  gathering  were,  in  the  opinion  of  Melen- 
dez,  not  less  honorable  to  the  Deity.  Rude  logs  strewn  about  the 
building,  even  as  they  had  been  employed  by  the  red-men,  fur- 
nished seats  for  the  Spanish  officers.  They  surrounded  a  great 
fire  of  resinous  pine,  which  now  blazed  brightly  in  the  centre  of 
the  apartment.  In  this  respect  the  scene  had  rather  the  appear- 
ance of  savage  rites  than  of  Christian  council.  In  silence,  the 
nobles  of  Castile,  of  Biscay  and  the  Asturias  took  their  places. 
Their  eyes  were  vacant,  and  their  hearts  were  depressed.  They 
caught  nothing  of  that  exulting  blaze  which  lightened  up  the  fea- 
tures of  Melendez. 

"  Oh  !  ye  of  little  faith  !"  he  exclaimed,  rising  in  their  midst, 
"  is  it  thus  that  ye  give  acknowlegment  to  G-od  for  the  blessings 
ye  have  received  at  his  hands,  and  for  that  care  of  the  Guardian 
Shepherd,  to  which  ye,  thus  far,  owe  your  safety  ?  Have  ye 
already  lost  the  memory  of  that  wondrous  sign  wrought  this  day 
for  your  deliverance, — when  your  eyes  beheld  a  wall  of  storm  and 
thunder  pass  between  your  captain  and  his  little  barques,  and  the 
overwhelming  squadron  of  the  heretic  Ribault  ?  Was  this  mani- 
festation of  his  guardian  providence  made  for  us  in  vain  ?  Said 
it  not,  plainly  as  the  voice  of  Heaven  might  say,  that  our  mission 
was  not  ended — that  there  was  other  work  to  be  wrought  by  our 


342  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

hands,  and  that  he  was  with  us,  to  help  us  in  the  great  achieve- 
ment of  his  purposes.  Lo  !  you  now,  the  very  storm,  that  rages 
about  us,  and  beneath  the  terrors  of  which  ye  tremble,  is  but  a 
further  proof  of  his  guardianship.  Under  cover  of  the  rages  of 
the  tempest,  shall  we  press  on  to  the  complete  achievement  of  our 
work.  We  shall  march  to  the  conquest  of  La  Caroline, — we  shall 
destroy  these  arch-heretics — these  enemies  of  Grod,  in  the  very 
fortress  of  their  strength — in  the  very  place  which  they  have  set 
apart,  in  the  vain  hope  of  security,  as  their  home  of  refuge  !" 

Audible  murmurs  here  arrested  the  speaker. 

"  What  is  it  that  ye  fear,  my  children  ?"  continued  Melendez. 

Then  some  among  them  cried  out — "  What  madness  is  it  that 
we  hear  ?  Shall  we,  thus  enfeebled  as  we  are,  with  our  great  ships 
speeding  to  Hispaniola,  here,  left  as  we  are  on  the  wild  shores  of 
the  savage,  not  yet  entrenched,  shall  we  divide  our  strength,  in 
the  hope  to  conquer  La  Caroline,  leaving  to  the  heretic  Ribault 
to  fall  upon  our  camp  when  we  depart,  lo  pursue  us  as  we  tread 
the  great  forests  of  the  Floridian,  and  to  destroy  us  between  the 
power  which  he  brings  and  that  which  awaits  us  at  La  Caroline  ?" 

"  Oh  !  my  brethren  !  would  ye  could  see  with  my  vision  !  Ri- 
bault will  not  trouble  our  camp,  neither  will  he  pursue  us  in  our 
absence.  He  speeds  before  the  terrors  of  the  tempest.  He  flies 
from  the  destruction  which  will  scarcely  suffer  him  to  escape.  A 
voice  cries  to  me  that  he  already  perishes  beneath  the  engulphing 
waters  of  the  Mexican  sea ;  or  is  cast  upon  the  bleak  and 
treacherous  shores  and  islands  which  guard  the  domain  of  the 
Floridian.  Even  if  he  should  escape  these  dangers,  weeks  must  pass 
before  he  can  return  to  these  waters  of  Selooe,  the  heathen  empire 
of  which  we  have  consecrated  with  the  name  and  confided  to  the 
holy  keeping  of  the  blessed  St.  Augustine  !  This  tempest  is  no  sum- 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  343 

mer  gale,  subsiding  as  rapidly  as  it  begins.  It  will  rage  thus  for 
many  days.  In  that  time,  encouraged  by  the  Lord,  we  shall  pass 
the  forest  wastes  that  lie  between  us  and  La  Caroline.  With  five 
hundred  men,  and  a  host  of  these  red  warriors,  we  shall  penetrate 
in  less  than  four  days  to  the  fortress  of  the  heretics — and  while 
they  dream  that  they  sleep  securely  under  the  shadows  of  the 
tempest,  we  shall  rush  upon  their  slumbers,  and  give  them  to 
sleep  eternally.  My  valiant  comrades,  this  is  the  resolution 
which  I  have  taken ;  but  I  would  hear  your  counsel.  I  would 
not  that  ye  should  not  cheerfully  adopt  the  resolve  which  is  as- 
suredly a  dictate  from  Heaven  itself.  For,  if  we  destroy  not  these 
heretics,  they  will  destroy  us.  If  we  cut  off  the  people  of  La 
Caroline  ere  Ribault  shall  return,  his  fortress  is  ours,  the  cannon 
of  which  we  shall  turn  upon  him.  It  is  a  war  a  Voutrance  be- 
tween us.  They  will  give  us  no  quarter  :  they  shall  have  none. 
This  tempest  gives  us  the  assurance  that  we  shall  have  no  danger 
from  Ribault,  if  we  seize  the  precious  moments  for  our  enterprise, 
when  he  is  vainly  striving  with  the  tempests  of  the  deep,  and 
vainly  striving  against  the  winds  that  bear  him  away  hourly  still 
farther  from  the  scene  of  our  achievements." 

We  need  not  pursue  the  deliberations  of  the  Spanish  council.  It 
is  enough  if  we  report  the  result.  In  the  speeches  of  Melendez, 
already  made,  we  see  the  full  force  of  his  argument,  which  was  sound 
and  sensible,  and  could  only  be  opposed  by  the  fears  of  those  who 
sought  to  avoid  exposure,  who  dreaded  the  elements,  the  unknown 
in  their  condition,  and  who  shrunk  from  enterprises  which  pro- 
mised nothing  but  hard  blows,  and  which  tasked  their  hardihood 
beyond  all  their  past  experience  in  war.  There  were  arguments  and 
pleas  put  in  by  the  over-cautious  and  the  timid,  to  all  of  which 
the  Adelantado  listened  patiently,  but  to  all  of  which  he  opposed 


344  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

his  arguments,  based  at  once  upon  the  obvious  policy  natural  to 
their  circumstances,  and  to  the  equally  obvious  requisitions  of  the 
Deity,  as  shown  by  an  interposition  in  their  favor,  which  they 
were  all  prepared  to  acknowledge  as  fervently  as  Melendez.  His 
quiet  but  inflexible  will  prevailed ;  the  council  gradually  became 
of  his  mind.  The  unsatisfied  were  at  least  silenced,  while  those 
whom  he  convinced  were  clamorous  in  their  plaudits  of  a  scheme 
which  they  ascribed,  as  Melendez  did  himself,  to  the  immediate 
revelation  of  Heaven. 

"  I  thank  you,  noble  gentlemen,"  were  the  words  of  the  Adelan- 
tado,  as  they  separated  for  the  night.  a  That  our  opinions  so 
well  correspond  increases  my  confidence  in  our  plan.  Not  that  I 
had  doubts  before.  I  had  thy  assurance,  oh  !  Lord !  that  this 
adventure  had  thy  heavenly  sanction.  In  teDomine  speravi, — let 
us  never  be  confounded  !  And  now,  my  comrades,  let  us  separate. 
With  the  dawn,  though  the  storm  rages  still,  as  I  hope  and  be- 
lieve it  will,  we  must  prepare  for  this  enterprise.  We  shall  choose 
five  hundred  of  our  best  soldiers,  carry  with  us  provisions  for  eight 
days,  and  in  that  time  our  work  will  be  done.  Our  force  will  be 
divided  into  six  companies,  each  with  its  flag  and  captain,  and  a 
select  body  of  pioneers,  armed  with  axes,  shall  be  sent  before  to 
open  a  pathway  through  the  forest.  That  we  have  no  guide  is  a 
misfortune ;  but  God  will  provide  so  that  we  fail  not.  Fortunate- 
ly we  know  in  what  quarter  lies  La  Caroline — the  distance  is 
known  also,  and  we  shall  not  go  wide,  if  we  are  only  resolved  to 
seek  and  to  destroy  the  heretics  with  firm  and  valiant  hearts, 
filled  with  a  proper  faith  in  heaven." 

Even  as  he  concluded,  one  at  the  entrance  of  the  council-house 
entreated  entrance.  It  proved  to  be  a  priest,  the  Reverend 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  345 

father  Salvandi,  who  brought  with  him  a  strange  man,  overgrown 
with  beard,  and  partly  in  the  costume  of  a  mariner. 

"  My  son,"  said  the  priest,  "  here  is  the  very  man  you  want. 
This  is  one  Francis  Jean,  a  Frenchman, — once  a  heretic,  but 
now,  conscious  of  his  errors,  and  repentant  in  the  hands  of  Holy 
Church.  He  hath  recanted  of  his  'sins,  and  hath  come  back  will- 
ingly to  the  folds  of  Christ.  He  hath  fled  from  La  Caroline,  from 
the  cruelties  of  Laudonniere,  the  heretic,  and  will  report  what  he 
knows,  touching  the  condition  of  the  Lutheran  fortress  and  the 
people  thereof." 

"Said  I  not,  my  comrades,  that  Grod  would  provide!"  cried 
Melendez  in  exultation.  "  This  is  the  very  man  whom  we  want. 
What  art  thou  ?" — to  the  Frenchman. 

"  I  was  a  heretic,  my  lord, — I  am  now  a  Christian.  I  was 
beaten  by  Laudonniere,  and  I  fled  from  him,  taking  off  one  of  his 
barques.  He  hath  sworn  my  life  ;  I  would  take  his.  I  know  the 
route  to  La  Caroline.  I  will  show  the  way  to  your  soldiers." 

"  Ah !  Laudonniere  will  hang  you,  if  he  gets  you  into  his 
power." 

"  For  that  reason,  my  lord,  I  would  have  you  get  him  in 
yours." 

"  You  shall  have  your  wish.  The  Lord  hath  indeed  spoken ! 
Your  name?" 

"Francis  Jean!" 

"Be  faithful — guide  my  people  to  this  fortress  of  the  heretics, 
and  you  shall  be  rewarded.  But,  if  treacherous,  Francis  Jean, 
you  shall  hang  to  the  first  tree  of  the  forest !" 

"  Doubt  me  not,  my  lord.     I  will  do  you  good  service  !" 

"  Be  it  so  !  My  comrades — the  Lord  hath  provided.  Senor 
Martin  de  Ochoa,  take  this  man  into  thy  keeping.  Do  him  no 
15* 


346  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

hurt, — let  him  be  well  entreated,  but  let  him  not  escape  from  tKy 
sight." 

The  Reverend  Father  Salvandi  bestowed  his  benediction  upon 
the  kneeling  circle,  and  they  separated  for  the  night.  And  still 
the  storm  roared  without,  and  still  the  rains  descended,  but  the 
heart  of  Melendez  rejoiced  in  the  tempest,  as  it  were  an  angel 
sent  by  Heaven  to  his  succor. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    DINNER-PARTY     OF   MELENDEZ. 

BUT  the  consolations  of  Melendez  were  not  those  of  his  people, 
nor  did  they  arrive  at  his  conclusions.  It  was  soon  bruited  abroad 
that  he  was  to  march  through  the  tempest  uppn  La  Caroline,  and 
his  soldiers  spoke  the  open  language  of  sedition.  Their  clamors 
reached  the  ears  of  Melendez,  but  he  was  one  of  those  wonderful 
politicians  who  know  what  an  error  it  is,  at  times,  to  be  too  quick 
of  sight  and  hearing.  The  discontents  of  the  canaille,  gave  him 
little  concern ;  yet  he  watched  them  without  seeming  to  do  so ; 
and  employed  processes  of  his  own  for  inducing  their  quiet,  with- 
out showing  himself  either  apprehensive  or  angry.  Some  of  his 
officers  were  guilty  of  seditious  speeches  also — some  of  those 
whom  his  will  had  silenced  in  council,  rather  than  his  arguments 
convinced.  He  took  his  measures  with  these  in  a  simple  manner, 
without  allowing  his  preparations  to  be  arrested  for  a  moment. 
One  of  these  officers,  named  St.  Vincent,  positively  declared  his 
purpose  not  to  go  upon  an  expedition  where  they  would  only 
get  their  throats  cut ;  and  that  if  Melendez  persisted  in  his  mad 


THE    PATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  347 

design,  he  would  embark  with  all  those  left  at  St.  Augustine,  and 
take  his  route  back  to  Hispaniola.  This  same  person,  with  the 
Senors  Francis  Recalde  and  Diego  de  Maya,  openly  and  boldly 
remonstrated  with  the  Adelantado  against  the  enterprise.  He  an- 
swered them  by  inviting  them,  and  all  other  of  his  officers  who 
had  been  of  the  council,  to  a  great  dinner  which  he  prepared  for 
them  that  day.  Here  he  gave  them  quite  a  splendid  entertain- 
ment, and  in  the  midst  of  their  hilarity  he  said — 

"  That  it  was  with  very  great  surprise  he  discovered  that  the 
secret  councils  of  the  last  night  had  been  improperly  revealed  to 
all  the  world — councils  of  war,"  said  he,  "  my  comrades,  are  mat- 
ters the  value  of  which  depend  wholly  upon  their  secresy.  It 
would  be  my  duty  to  find  out  and  punish  the  authors  of  this 
wretched  infidelity ;  but  I  am  too  well  persuaded  of  tlie  mercies 
of  God  to  myself  and  to  all  of  us,  not  to  be  indulgent  to  the  faults 
of  our  people.  This  offence,  accordingly,  is  forgiven,  no  matter 
who  shall  have  been  the  offender.  But,  hereafter,  I  may  say  that 
all  future  seditions  among  the  soldiers  shall  be  punished  in  the 
officers.  It  is  from  the  officers  only  that  the  soldiers  are  led  into 
insubordination.  They  shall  answer  for  their  men.  Let  it  be 
known,  however,  that  all  who  lose  heart,  who  tremble  at  this  en- 
terprise, to  which  G-od  himself  has  summoned  us,  are  at  liberty  to 
remain.  I  am  satisfied,  however,  that  the  greater  number  are 
prepared  to  depart  with  me  the  moment  I  give  the  signal,  under 
the  proper  example  of  their  captains.  Still,  I  am  willing  to  hear 
counsel  from  you  touching  this  expedition.  I  am  not  mulish  enough 
to  adhere  to  a  resolution  when  better  counsels  are  given  against  it. 
Speak  freely  your  minds,  therefore,  if  you  think  otherwise  than 
myself;  remembering  this  only,  that  our  resolution,  once  taken,  if 
there  shall  be  one  so  bold  as  to  oppose  words  where  he  should  do 


348          ,  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM, 

his  duty,  he  shall  be  cashiered  upon  the  spot.  And  now,  my  com- 
rades, this  wine  of  Xeres  is  not  amiss.  Let  us  drink.  We  are  of 
one  mind,  I  perceive,  in  council ;  let  our  unanimity  extend  to  our 
drink.  I  drink  to  the  speedy  overthrow  of  heresy,  and  the  spread 
of  the  true  faith ;  both  certain  where  the  sword  of  valor  is  al- 
ways ready  to  obey  the  voice  of  God  !" 

The  toast  was  drank  with  enthusiasm.  The  discontents  were 
silenced.  How  should  it  be  otherwise  where  the  authority  was  so 
generous,  conveying  its  suggestions  through  the  generous  wines  of 
Xeres,  and  only  hinting  at  the  possibility  of  disgrace  and  punish- 
ment, in  the  occurrence  of  events  scarcely  possible  to  those  who 
claimed  to  draw  the  sword  of  valor  in  the  service  of  the  Deity. 
The  Adelantado  gave  no  farther  heed  to  the  factions  of  his  army. 
He  probably  adopted  the  best  precautions.  It  is  true  that  St. 
Vincent  still  mouthed  threats  of  disobedience,  but  the  policy  of 
Melendez  had  no  ears  in  his  quarter  ;  and  the  preparations  went 
on,  without  interruption,  for  the  march  against  La  Caroline  ! 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    STORMING    OP    LA    CAROLINE. 

THE  preparations  for  departure  were  complete.  The  Adelantado 
himself  marched  at  the  head  of  his  vanguard,  the  immediate  com- 
mand of  which  was  confided  to  Senor  Martin  de  Ochoa,  with  a 
troop  of  Biscayans  and  Asturians,  armed  with  axes,  for  clearing 
their  pathway  through  the  forest.  With  these  went  the  traitor, 
Francis  Jean,  who  had  abandoned  his  religion  and  La  Caroline  to- 
gether. He  was  watched  closely,  but  proved  faithful  to  his  new 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  349 

masters.  Dreary,  indeed,  was  the  progress  of  Melendez.  The 
storm  prevailed  all  the  time.  The  rain  soaked  their  garments, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  they  could  protect  their  ammunition  and 
provisions.  The  fourth  day  of  the  march  they  were  within  five 
miles  of  La  Caroline,  but  arrested  by  an  immense  tract  of  swamp, 
in  passing  which  the  water  was  up  to  their  middles.  The  whole 
country  was  flooded,  and  the  freshet  momently  increased,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  continued  rains.  These  had  become  more  terrible 
in  volume  than  ever.  The  windows  of  heaven  seemed  again 
opened  for  another  deluge.  The  hearts  of  the  Spaniards  sunk,  as 
their  toils  and  sufferings  increased.  More  than  a  hundred  slunk 
away,  fell  off  on  the  route,  and  made  their  way  over  the  ground 
which  they  had  trodden,  reporting  the  worst  of  disasters  to  their 
comrades,  defeat  and  destruction,  by  way  of  excusing  their  cow- 
ardice. But  the  indomitable  courage  and  unbending  will  of  the 
adelantado,  his  presence  and  voice  of  command  in  every  quarter, 
still, prevailed  to  bring  his  remaining  battalions  forward.  It  was 
in  vain  that  his  troops  muttered  curses  upon  his  head.  Fernan 
Perez,  an  ensign  of  the  company  of  St.  Yincent,  was  bold  enough 
to  say,  that  "  he  could  not  comprehend  how  so  many  brave  gen- 
tlemen should  let  themselves  be  led  by  a  wretched  Asturian 
mountaineer — a  fellow  who  knew  no  more  about  carrying  on  war 
on  land  than  a  horse  !" 

The  ensign  had  a  great  deal  more  to  say  of  the  same  sort,  of 
which  Melendez  was  not  ignorant,  but  of  which  he  took  no  notice. 
He  was  a  sage  dissimulator  who  answered  discontent  with  policy, 
and  strengthened  his  people's  hearts  by  divine  revelation.  He 
called  another  council  of  his  officers.  He  told  them  of  his  prayers 
to  and  consultations  of  Heaven,  seeking  to  know  the  will  of  God 
only  in  the  performance  of  his  work, — persuaded  that  each  of 


350  THE    LILY   AN£>    THE    TOTEM. 

them  had  made  like  prayers  all  night ;  that  they  were  accordingly 
in  the  very  mood  of  mind  to  resolve  what  was  to  be  done  in  their 
extremity.  He  made  this  to  appear  as  bad  as  possible,  describing 
them  as  "  harrassed  with  fatigue,  shorn  of  strength,  without  bread, 
munitions  or  any  human  resource." 

Some  one  counselled  their  retreat  to  St.  Augustine  before  the 
Huguenots  should  discover  them. 

"  Very  good  advice,"  quoth  Melendez,  "  but  suffer  me  still  an- 
other word.  The  prospect  is  undoubtedly  a  gloomy  one,  but  look 
you,  there  are  the  portals  of  La  Caroline.  Now,  it  may  be  just 
as  well  to  see  how  affairs  stand  with  our  enemies.  According  to 
all  appearances  they  are  not  in  force.  We  may  not  have  the  power 
to  take  the  place,  but  it  is  well  to  see  whether  the  place  can  be 
taken.  If  we  retreat  now,  we  are  not  sure  that  we  shall  do  so  se- 
curely. They  will  probably  hunt  us  through  the  forest,  at  every 
step  of  the  way,  encouraged  by  our  show  of  weakness  and  timidity. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  we  may  surprise  this  fort.  Men  seldom 
look  either  for  friends  or  enemies  in  bad  weather.  I  doubt  if  they 
can  sustain  a  bold  assault ;  but  if  they  do,  and  we  fail,  we  have 
the  consolation  at  least  of  having  done  all  that  was  possible  for 
men." 

The  assault  was  agreed  upon ;  and  in  a  transport  of  joy,  the 
Adelantado  sunk  upon  his  knees,  in  the  mire  where  he  stood,  and 
called  upon  his  troops  to  do  likewise,  imploring  the  succor  of  the 
God  of  battles. 

He  gave  his  orders  with  rapid  resolution  and  according  to  a 
fixed  design  already  entertained.  Taking  with  him  Francis  Jean, 
the  renegade,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  one  division  of  his 
troops,  and  gave  other  bodies  to  the  Captains  Martin  de  Ochoa, 
Francis  Recalde,  Andres  Lopez  Patino  and  others,  and,  covered 


THE    PATE    OP    LA    CAROLINE.  351 

by  the  midnight  darkness  from  observation — with  all  sounds  of 
drum  and  trumpet  stilled — with  the  echoes  of  their  advancing 
squadrons  hushed  in  the  fall  of  torrents  and  the  roar  of  sweeping 
winds — the  assailants  made  their  way,  slowly  and  painfully  but 
without  staggering,  toward  the  silent  bastions  of  La  Caroline. 

Under  the  guidance  of  the  renegade  Frenchman  the  Spanish 
captains  made  a  complete  reconnoissance  of  the  fortress.  A  por- 
tion of  it  was  still  unrepaired,  and  this  they  penetrated  without 
difficulty.  We  have  seen,  in  a  previous  chapter,  with  what 
doubtful  vigilance  the  lieutenants  of  Laudonniere  performed  their 
duties.  It  will  not  be  forgotten  that,  on  the  night  of  the  19th 
September,  the  charge  of  the  watch  lay  with  Captain  de  la  Vigne ; 
nor  will  it  be  forgotten  with  what  pity  that  amiable  captain  re- 
garded the  condition  of  his  sentinels,  exposed  to  such  unchristian 
weather.  We  left  the  fortress  of  La  Caroline  in  most  excellent 
repose  ;  the  storm  prevailing  without,  and  the  garrison  asleep 
within.  It  was  while  they  slept  that  Don  Pedro  de  Melendez  was 
praying  to  heaven  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  assist  them  in 
their  slumbers,  changing  the  temporary  into  an  eternal  sleep. 
Thus  passed  the  night  of  the  19th  September  over  La  Caroline. 
The  dawn  of  the  20th  found  the  Spaniards,  in  several  divisions, 
about  to  penetrate  the  fortress.  Two  of  their  leaders,  Martin  de 
Ochoa  and  the  master  of  the  camp  had  already  done  so.  They 
had  examined  the  place  at  their  leisure,  passing  through  an  unre- 
paired breach  of  one  of  the  walls.  Returning,  with  the  view  to 
making  their  report,  they  had  mistaken  one  pathway  for  another, 
and  encountered  a  drowsy  Frenchman,  who,  starting  at  their  ap- 
proach, demanded  "  Qui  vive  ?"  Ochoa  promptly  answered, 
"  France,"  and  the  man  approached  them  only  to  receive  a  stunning 
blow  upon  the  head.  The  Frenchman  recovered  himself  instantly, 


352  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

drew  his  sword,  and  made  at  the  assailant,  but  the  master  of  the 
camp  seconded  the  blow  of  Ochoa,  and  the  Frenchman  was  brought 
to  the  ground.  The  sword  of  the  Spaniard  was  planted  at  his 
throat,  and  he  was  forbidden  to  speak  under  pain  of  death.  He 
had  cried  aloud,  but  had  failed  to  give  the  alarm,  and  this  pointed 
suggestion  silenced  him  from  farther  attempts.  He  was  conducted 
to  Melendez,  who,  determined  to  see  nothing  but  good  auguries, 
cried  out,  without  caring  to  hear  the  report — "  My  friends,  God 
is  with  us  !  We  are  already  in  possession  of  the  fort."  At  these 
words  the  assault  was  given.  The  captive  Frenchman  was  slain, 
as  the  most  easy  method  of  relieving  his  captors  of  their  charge, 
and  the  Spaniards  darted  pell-mell  into  the  fort,  the  fierce  Adelan- 
tado  still  leading  in  the  charge,  with  the  cry — "  Follow  me,  com- 
rades, God  is  for  us  !"  Two  Frenchmen,  half-naked,  rushed 
across  his  path.  One  of  them  he  slew,  and  Don  Andres  Patino 
the  other.  They  had  no  time  allowed  them  to  give  the  alarm  ; 
but  just  at  this  moment  a  soldier  of  the  garrison  who  was  less 
drowsy  than  the  rest,  or  more  apprehensive  of  his  duty,  had  saun- 
tered forth  from  the  shelter  of  his  quarters  and  stood  upon  the 
ramparts,  looking  forth  in  the  direction  of  a  little  "  sandie  knappe," 
or  hill,  down  which  a  column  of  the  Spaniards  were  rushing  in  or- 
der of  battle.  This  vision  brought  him  to  the  full  possession  of  all 
his  faculties.  He  gave  the  cri  de  guerre,  the  signal  of  battle,  but 
as  he  wheeled  about  to  procure  his  weapons,  he  beheld  other  de- 
tachments of  the  Spaniards  making  their  way  through  the  unre- 
paired and  undefended  breaches  in  the  wall.  Still  he  cried  aloudv 
even  as  he  fled,  and  Laudonniere  started  from  his  slumbers  only 
to  hear  the  startling  cry — "  To  arms  !  to  arms  !  The  enemy  is 
upon  us  !" 

The  warning  came  too  late.     The  amiable  weakness  which 


THE    FATE   OF    LA    CAROLINE.  353 

withdrew  the  sentinels  from  tbe  walls  because  of  the  weather,  was 
not  now  to  be  repaired  by  any  energy  or  courage.  The  garrison 
was  aroused,  but  not  permitted  to  rally  or  embody  themselves. 
Melendez  with  his  troop  had  reached  the  corps  de  garde  quite  as 
soon  as  Laudonniere.  The  latter — lately  supposed  to  have  usurped 
royal  honors — was  very  soon  convinced  that  the  only  object  before 
him  was  the  safety  of  his  own  life.  With  the  first  alarm,  he 
caught  up  sword  and  buckler,  and  rushed  valiantly  enough  into 
the  court.  But  he  only  appeared  to  be  made  painfully  conscious 
that  everything  was  lost.  His  appeals  to  his  soldiers  only  brought 
his  enemies  about  him,  who  butchered  his  men  as  they  approached 
their  guns,  and  who  now  appeared  in  numbers  on  every  side,  in 
full  possession  of  the  fortress.  The  magazines  were  already  in 
their  hands,  and  a  desperate  effort  of  Laudonniere's  artillerists  to 
recover  them,  was  followed  only  by  their  own  destruction.  The 
most  vigorous  resistance,  hand  to  hand,  was  made  on  the  south- 
west side  of -the  fort.  Here  the  Frenchmen  opposed  themselves 
with  cool  and  determined  courage,  to  the  entrance  of  the  enemy. 
Hither  Laudonniere  hurried,  crying  aloud  to  his  men  in  the  lan- 
guage of  encouragement,  and  doing  his  utmost,  by  the  most  head- 
long valor,  to  repair  the  mischiefs  of  his  feeble  rule  and  most  un- 
happy remissness  of  authority.  Verily,  to  those  who  saw  how 
well  he  carried  himself  in  this  the  moment  of  his  worst  despair, 
the  past  errors  of  the  unhappy  Laudonniere  had  been  forgiven  if 
not  forgotten.  But  the  struggle,  on  the  part  of  any  valor,  was 
utterly  in  vain.  The  Spariiards  had  won  a  footing  already  too  se- 
cure for  dispossession.  Led  on  by  Pedro  Melendez,  with  ever  and 
anon  his  fanatic  war-cry — "  God  is  with  us,  my  comrades,"  ring- 
ing in  their  ears,  now  thoroughly  excited  by  the  earnest  of  success 
which  they  enjoyed,  in  overwhelming  numbers  and  in  the  full  faith 


354  THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM. 

that  they  fought  the  battles  of  Holy  Church,  the  Spaniards  were 
irresistible.  They  mocked  the  tardy  valor  of  our  Huguenots,  their 
feeble  force,  and  purposeless  attempts.  At  length  the  party  led 
by  Melendez  confronted  Laudonniere.  The  Spanish  chieftain 
knew  not  the  person  of  his  enemy.  But  the  renegade  French- 
man, Francis  Jean,  discovered  his  ancient  leader,  and  the  desire 
for  revenge,  which  had  led  to  his  treachery,  filled  his  heart  with 
exultation  at  the  prospect  of  the  gratification  of  his  passion.  He 
cried  to  Melendez : 

"  That  is  he  !  That  is  the  captain  of  the  heretics — that  is 
Laudonniere  !" 

"  Ah,  traitor !  Is  it  thou  ?"  cried  Laudonniere.  "  Let  me 
but  live  to  slay  thee,  and  I  care  nothing  for  the  rest." 

With  these  words  he  sprang  upon  the  traitor  guide,  and  would 
have  slain  him  at  a  stroke,  but  for  the  interposition  of  Melendez. 
He  thrust  back  the  renegade,  and  confronted  the  captain  of  the 
Huguenots.  But  Laudonniere  shrank  from  the  conflict^  for  Me- 
lendez was  followed  by  his  troop;  and,  saving  one  man,  a  stout 
soldier  named  Bartholomew,  who  fought  manfully  with  a  heavy 
partizan,  he  stood  utterly  alone  and  unsupported.  He  gave 
back,  or  rather  was  drawn  back  by  Bartholomew ;  but  now  that 
Melendez  and  his  people  had  seen  the  particular  prey  whom  they 
had  been  seeking,  they  rushed  with  fiercer  appetite  than  ever  to 
make  him  captive.  The  efforts  of  the  Spaniards  were  then  re- 
doubled. The  fierce  bigot  Pedro  Melendez  himself — a  stalwart 
warrior,  clad  in  heavy  black  armor  of  woven  mail,  with  a  great 
white  cross  upon  his  breast — made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to 
bring  Laudonniere  to  the  last  passage  at  arms  ;  and  for  a  time  the 
Frenchman,  though  quite  too  light  and  enfeebled  by  sickness  for 
the  contest  with  such  a  champion,  was  eager  to  indulge  him.  He 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  355 

struggled  with  the  friendly  arm  which  perforce  drew  him  away,  and 
great  was  his  rage,  though  impotent,  when  the  rush  of  a  number 
of  his  own  fugitives  passing  between  at  this  moment,  hurried  him 
onward  as  by  the  downward  rush  of  a  torrent,  to  the  safety  of  his 
life  if  not  to  the  increase  of  his  honor.  At  that  moment  Laudon- 
niere  had  gladly  redeemed  by  a  glorious  death,  at  the  hands  of  the 
fierce  Asturian,  the  errors  and  the  failures  of  his  life.  But  this 
was  denied  him,  and,  vainly  struggling  against  the  tide  of  fugitives, 
he  was  swept  with  them  in  the  direction  of  the  corps  de  garde. 
Laudonniere  yielded  in  this  manner  only  foot  by  foot,  striking  at 
the  foe  and  at  his  own  runagates  alike,  and  receiving  upon  his  shield, 
with  the  dexterity  of  an  accomplished  cavalier,  the  assault  of  a 
score  of  pikes  which  pressed  beyond  the  heavy  blade  of  Melendez. 
When  at  length  the  retreating  Frenchmen  had  reached  the  court 
of  the  fortress,  they  scattered  headlong,  finding  themselves  con- 
fronted by  new  and  consolidated  masses  of  the  enemy,  and  each  of 
them  sought  incontinently  his  own  method  of  escape.  "  Sauve 
qui  pent  /"  was  the  cry,  and  the  crowd  by  which  Laudonniere  had 
hitherto  been  borne  unwillingly  along,  now  melted  away  on  every 
hand,  leaving  him  again  almost  alone  in  the  presence  of  the 
Spaniard.  And  still  the  faithful  fellow,  Bartholomew,  clung  to  his 
superior,  saving  him  from  the  rashness  which  would  only  have 
flung  away  his  own  life  without  an  object.  He  hurried  along  his 
unhappy  and  now  reckless  captain,  taking  his  way  into  the  yard 
of  Laudonniere 's  lodging.  Thither  they  were  closely  pursued,  and, 
but  for  a  tent  that  happened  to  be  standing  in  the  place,  they 
must  have  been  taken.  But,  passing  behind  this  tent,  while  the 
Spaniards  were  busied  in  groping  within  it,  or  cutting  away  the 
cords, 

"  Hither,  now,  Monsieur  Rene,"  cried  Bartholomew,  grasping 


356  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  commandant  by  the  wrist  and  drawing  him  along ;  "  follow 
me  now  and  we  shall  surely  escape.  They  have  left  the  breach 
open  by  the  west,  near  to  the  lodging  of  Monsieur  D'Erlach,  and 
by  that  route  shall  we  gain  the  thickets." 

"  Ah  !"  cried  Laudonniere,  long  and  grateful  recollections  of 
a  tried  fidelity,  to  which  he  had  not  always  done  justice,  extorting 
from  him  a  groan  ;  "  Ah  !  this  had  never  happened  had  Jean  Bi- 
bault  left  me  Alphonse  !" 

And  the  tears  gushed  from  his  eyes,  and  he  paused  and  thrust 
the  point  of  his  sword  into  the  earth  with  vexation  and  despair. 

"  We  have  not  a  moment,  Monsieur  Rene,"  cried  the  soldier 
with  impatience  ;  "  the  tent  is  down ;  the  Spaniards  are  foiled  for 
a  moment  only.  They  will  be  sure  to  seek  you  in  the  breach." 

"  There  !  there  !  indeed  !"  cried  the  commandant  bitterly, 
"  there  should  they  have  found  me  at  first ;  but  now  ! — Lead  on  ! 
lead  on  !  my  good  fellow.  As  thou  wilt !" 

Soon  our  fugitives  had  cleared  the  breach,  and  were  now  without 
the  walls.  The  misty  shroud  which  covered  the  face  of  nature, 
and  enveloped  as  with  a  sea  the  thickets  to  which  they  were  mak- 
ing, favored  their  escape.  The  unhappy  Laudonniere  found  him- 
self temporarily  safe  in  the  forests ;  but  if  remote  from  present 
danger,  they  were  not  so  far  from  the  fortress  as  to  be  insensible 
to  the  work  of  death  and  horror  which  was  in  progress  there,  the 
evidence  of  which  came  to  their  ears  in  the  shrieks  of  women  for 
mercy,  and  the  groans  and  cries  of  tortured  men. 

"  Slay  !  slay  !  Smite  and  spare  not !"  was  the  dreadful  com- 
mand of  Melendez.  u  The  groans  of  the  heretic  make  music  in 
the  ears  of  Heaven  !" 

Laudonniere  shut  his  ears,  and  with  his  companion  plunged 
deeper  into  the  forests.  Here  he  found  other  fugitives  like  him- 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  357 

self,  and  others  subsequently  joined  him  ;  some  were  wounded  even 
unto  death,  others  slightly  ;  all  were  terror-stricken,  shuddering 
with  horror,  incapable  from  wo  and  agony.  What  had  they  be- 
held, what  endured,  and  what  was  the  prospect  before  them  but  of 
massacre  ?  A  hasty  council  was  convened  among  the  party,  and 
the  advice  of  Laudonniere — he  could  command  no  longer — was, 
that  they  should  bury  themselves  among  the  reeds  and  within  the 
marshes  which  lay  along  the  river,  out  of  sight,  until  they  could 
make  their  small  vessels,  by  which  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  still 
guarded,  aware  of  their  situation.  But  this  council  was  agreeable 
to  a  part  only,  of  that  bewildered  company.  Another  portion 
preferred  to  push  for  one  of  the  Indian  villages,  at  some  little  dis- 
tance in  the  forests,  where,  hitherto,  they  had  found  a  friendly 
reception.  They  persevered  in  this  purpose,  leaving  Laudonniere 
and  a  few  others  in  the  marshes.  Hither,  then,  these  hapless  fu- 
gitives sped,  till  they  could  go  no  farther ;  and  until  their  com- 
mandant himself,  still  unrecovered  from  the  chill  and  fever  which 
had  seized  him  at  the  first  coming  on  of  autumn,  declared  his  in- 
ability to  go  deeper  into  the  thicket,  though  it  promised  him  the 
safety  which  he  sought.  He  was  already  up  to  his  neck  in  water, 
and  such  was  his  weakness,  that  he  was  about  to  yield  to  his  fate. 
But  for  the  faithful  and  unwearied  support  of  one  of  his  soldiers, 
Jean  du  Chemin,  who  held  him  above  the  water  when  he  would 
have  sunk,  and  who  stuck  by  him  all  the  rest  of  that  day,  and 
through  the  long  and  dreary  night  which  followed,  he  must  have 
perished.  Meanwhile,  two  of  his  soldiers  swam  off  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  vessels.  Fortunately  for  those  swimmers,  those  in  the 
vessels  had  been  already  apprized  of  the  taking  of  the  fort  by  Jean 
de  Hais,  the  master  carpenter,  who  had  made  his  escape  the  first, 
by  dropping  down  the  river  in  a  shallop.  The  boats  of  the  vessels 


358  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

were  immediately  pushed  up  the  stream,  and  succeeded  in  picking 
up  the  swimmers,  and,  finally,  when  Laudonniere  and  his  faithful 
companions  were  both  about  to  sink,  in  extricating  them  from 
their  marshy  place  of  refuge.  Eighteen  or  twenty  of  the  fugitives 
(among  whom  was  the  celebrated  painter,  Jaques  le  Moyne  de 
Morgues,  to  whom  we  owe  mostly  the  illustrations  of  Floridian 
scenery,  costume,  and  lineaments  preserved  in  De  Bry  and  other 
collections^  were  rescued  in  this  manner,  and  conveyed  on  board 
the  ships.  These,  with  Laudonniere,  subsequently  made  their 
way,  after  many  disasters,  perils  of  the  sea  and  land,  a  detention 
in  England,  where  they  were  again  indebted  to  the  humanity  of 
the  English  for  succor  and  sympathy.  An  artful  attempt  was 
made  by  Melendez  to  obtain  possession  of  these  vessels,  but  he 
was  baffled.  They  sailed  from  the  river  of  May  on  the  25th  Sep- 
tember, 1565,  thus  abandoning  forever  the  design  of  planting 
themselves  and  their  religion  permanently  in  Florida.  Let  us  now 
look  to  the  farther  proceedings  of  the  conquerors  in  possession  of 
their  prize ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

VJE    VICTIS. 

AND  now,  it  falls  to  our  lot  to  record  the  most  cruel  passage  in 
all  this  history ;  to  relate  the  mournful  and  terrible  fate  which  befel 
the  wretched. Huguenots  taken  at  the  capture  of  La  Caroline,  and 
the  sanguinary  deed  by  which  the  Spanish  chief,  through  a  gloomy 
fanaticism,  stained  foully  the  honorable  fame  which  his  skill  and 
courage  in  arms  might  have  ensured  to  his  memory.  All  resist- 


THE    FATE    OP    LA    CAROLINE.  359 

ance  having  ceased  on  the  part  of  the  Huguenots  of  La  Caroline, 
the  standard  of  Castile  was  unrolled  from  its  battlements,  instead 
of  the  white  folds  and  the  smiling  lilies  of  France.  The  name  of 
the  fortress  was  solemnly  changed  to  San  Matheo,  the  day  on 
which  they  found  themselves  in  its  possession  being  that  which 
was  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  that  saint.  The  arms  of  France 
and  of  Coligny,  which  surmounted  the  gateways  of  the  place,  were 
erased  and  those  of  Spain  were  graven  there  instead,  and  the  keep- 
ing of  the  fortress  was  assigned  to  a  garrison  of  three  hundred 
men,  under  the  command  of  Gonzalo  de  Yillaroel.  These  duties 
occupied  but  little  time,  and  did  not  interfere  with  other  per- 
formances of  the  Adelantado,  which  he  thought  not  the  less  con- 
spicuous among  the  duties  required  at  his  hands.  His  prisoners 
were  brought  before  him.  These  were,  perhaps,  not  so  numerous, 
though  forming  a  fair  proportion  of  the  number  left  by  Ribault  in 
the  garrison.  It  is  perhaps  fortunate  that  no  greater  number  had 
been  left,  since,  in  all  probability,  the  same  want  of  watch  and 
caution  by  which  the  fortress  had  been  lost,  would  have  equally 
been  shown,  with  any  numbers,  under  such  an  easy  commandant 
as  Laudonniere,  and  in  the  particular  circumstances  which  had 
taken  place.  Of  these  prisoners  many  were  women  and  children. 
We  have  seen  that  Laudonniere  succeeded  in  rescuing  some 
twenty  persons.  Several  had  fled  to  the  forests  and  taken  shelter 
with  the  tribes  of  neighboring  Indians.  In  some  few  instances, 
the  red-men  protected  them  with  fidelity.  But  in  the  greater 
number  of  cases,  terrified  by  the  sudden  appearance  and  the 
strength  of  the  Spaniards,  they  had  yielded  up  the  fugitives  at  the 
fierce  demand  of  the  Adelantado.  Others  of  the  miserable  Hugue- 
nots, warned  by  the  Indians  that  they  could  no  longer  harbor, 


360  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

were  shot  down  by  the  pursuing  Spaniards,  as  they  fled  in  terror 
through  the  forests.  Twenty  perished  in  this  manner,  offering  no 
resistance,  and  long  after  the  struggle  in  La  Caroline  had 
«nded. 

The  surviving  prisoners  were  then  brought  before  the  conquer- 
or. They  were  manacled,  and  presented  a  spectacle  which  must 
have  moved  the  sympathies  of  any  ordinary  nature.  But  Pedro 
de  Melendez  was  not  of  an  ordinary  nature.  The  natural  sym- 
pathies had  given  way  to  a  morbid  passion  amounting  to  insanity, 
by  which  his  judgment  was  confounded.  The  sight  of  weeping, 
and  trembling  women  and  children ;  of  captives  naked,  worn,  ex- 
hausted, enfeebled  by  years,  by  disease,  by  cruel  wounds — all 
pleading  for  his  mercy — only  seemed  to  strengthen!  him  in  the 
most  cruel  resolution.  "  The  groans  of  the  heretic,  are  music 
in  the  ears  of  heaven  !"  Upon  this  maxim  he  designed  an  ap- 
propriate commentary. 

"  Separate  these  women  from  the  other  prisoners." 

It  was  done. 

"Now  detach  from  these  last,  all  children  under  fifteen 
years." 

His  command  was  obeyed.  The  women  and  children  thus  set 
apart  were  consigned  to  slavery.  Of  their  farther  fate  the  his- 
torian knows  nothing.  The  young  and  tender  were  probably  per- 
suaded to  the  Roman  Catholic  altars,  and  thus  finally  achieved 
their  deliverance.  The  more  stubborn,  we  may  reasonably  as- 
sume, perished  in  their  bonds,  passing  from  one  condition  of 
degradation  to  another.  Of  the  rest  the  history  is  terribly  defi- 
nite. Fixing  his  cold,  dark  eye  upon  the  male  captives  upon 
whose  fate  he  had  yet  said  nothing,  he  demanded — 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  361 

u  Is  there  among  ye  any  who  profess  the  faith  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  ?» 

Two  of  the  prisoners  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Take  these  Christians  away,  and  let  their  bonds  be  removed. 
The  Holy  Father,  Salvandi,  will  examine  them  in  the  faith  of 
Mother  Church.  For  the  rest,  are  there  any  among  ye,  who, 
seeing  the  error  of  your  ways,  will  renounce  the  heresy  of 
Luther,  and  seek  once  more  communion  with  the  only  true 
church  ?» 

A  drear  silence  followed.  The  captives  looked  mournfully  at 
each  other,  and  at  the  Adelantado  ;  but  in  his  face  there  was  no 
encouragement,  and  nothing  but  despair  was  expressed  in  the 
aspects  of  their  fellows. 

"Be  warned!"  continued  the  Adelantado.  "To  those  who 
seek  the  blessings  of  the  true  church,  she  generously  openeth  her 
arms.  To  those  who  turn  away,  indifferently  or  in  scorn,  she  de- 
crees death  temporal  and  death  eternal.  Hear  ye ! — and  now 
say." 

The  silence  was  unbroken. 

"Are  ye  obdurate?  or  do  ye  not  comprehend  that  your 
lives  rest  upon  your  speech  ?  Either  ye  embrace  the  safety  which 
the  church  offers,  by  an  instant  renunciation  of  that  of  the  foul 
heretic  Luther,  or  ye  die  by  the  halter  !" 

One  sturdy  soldier  advanced  from  the  group — a  bold,  high- 
souled  fellow — his  brows  lifted  proudly  with  the  conscious  impulse 
which  worked  within  his  soul. 

"  Pedro  de  Melendez,  we  are  in  your  power.     You  are  master 

of  our  mortal  bodies,  but  with  the   death  before  us  that  you 

threaten,  know  that  we  are  members  of  the  reformed  Church  of 

Christ,  which  ye  name  to  be  of  Luther — that,holding  it  good  to 

16 


362  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

live  in  this  faith,  we  deem  it  one  in  which  it  will  not  be  ainiss  to 
die!" 

And  the  speaker  looked  round  him,  into  the  faces  of  his  fellows, 
and  they  lightened  up  with  a  glow  of  cheerfulness  and  pride, 
though  no  word  was  spoken. 

"  Speaks  this  man  for  the  rest  of  ye  ?"  demanded  Melendez. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence.  At  length  a  matelit  ad- 
vanced— a  common  sailor — a  man  before  the  mast. 

"  Ay !  ay  !  captain  !  what  he  says  we  say !  and  there's  no  use 
for  more  palaver.  Let  there  be  an  end  of  it.  We  are  of  the 
church  of  Messer  Luther,  and  no  other ;  if  death's  the  word, 
we're  ready.  We're  not  the  men,  at  the  end  of  the  reckoning,  to 
belie  the  whole  voyage  !" 

"  Be  it  it  even  as  ye  say !"  answered  Melendez  coldly,  but 
sternly,  and  without  change  of  accent  or  show  of  passion  :  "  Take 
them  forth,  and  let  them  be  hung  to  yonder  tree  !'' 

Then  rose  the  shrieks  of  women  and  the  cries  of  children ; 
women  seeking  to  embrace  their  husbands  and  children  clinging 
to  the  knees  of  then*  doomed  sires.  But  these  produced  no  rclent- 
ings.  The  parties  were  separated  by  the  strong  hand,  and  the 
unhappy  men  were  hurrried  to  the  fatal  tree.  The  priest  stood 
ready  to  receive  their  recantations.  His  exhortations  were  not 
spared ;  but  soldier  and  sailor  had  equally  spoken  for  the  resolute 
martyrdom  of  the  whole.  The  reverend  father  preached  to  them, 
and  promised  them  in  vain.  Amidst  cries  and  curses,  the  victims 
were  run  up  to  the  wide-spreading  branches  of  a  mighty  oak,  dis- 
honored in  its  employment  for  such  a  purpose,  and  perished  in 
their  fidelity  to  the  faith  which  they  professed.  Their  bodies 
were  left  hanging  in  the  sun  and  wind,  destined  equally  as  trophies 
of  the  victor,  and  warnings  to  the  heretic.  A  monument  was  in- 


THE    FATE    OF    LA    CAROLINE.  363 

stantly  raised  beneath  the  tree,  upon  which  was  printed  in  large 
characters — 

"®l)m  to  not  suffer  tl)us  a0 
Jmufymen,  but  a0 
tU0 
to 


XXIII. 

^wwwyMMW* 

THE  FORTUNES  OF  RIBAULT. 

CHAPTER     I. 

HAVING  thus  rendered  himself  master  of  La  Caroline,  effectu- 
ally displacing  the  Huguenots  from  the  region  which  they  had 
acquired,  and  maintained  so  long  through  so  many  vicissitudes, 
Melendez  prepared  to  hurry  back  to  his  camp  on  the  banks  of  the 
Selooe.  He  but  lingered  to  review  the  force  of  the  garrison,  and 
with  his  own  hands,  fresh  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  slaught- 
ered victims,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  church  dedicated  to  the 
God  of  Mercy,  when  he  set  forth  with  the  small  body  of  troops, 
which  he  reserved  to  himself  from  the  number  that  accompanied 
his  expedition,  scarcely  a  hundred  men,  impatient  for  return,  lest 
Ribault,  escaping  from  the  storm,  should  visit  upon  his  settlement 
at  St.  Augustine  the  same  wrath  which  had  lighted  upon  La 
Caroline.  The  heavy  torrents  from  which  he  had  already  suffered 
so  much  continued  to  descend  as  before,  and  the  whole  face  of  the 
country  was  inundated ;  his  people  suffered  inconceivably  upon  the 
march,  but  the  Adelantado  was  superior  to  the  sense  of  suffering. 
He  felt  himself  too  much  the  especial  favorite  of  God,  to  suffer 


THE  FORTUNES  OP  RIBAULT.  365 

himself  to  doubt  that  the  toils  and  inconveniences  of  such  a  pro- 
gress as  that  before  him,  were  anything  but  tests  of  his  fidelity, 
and  the  means  by  which  the  Deity  designed  to  prepare  him  pro- 
perly for  the  holy  service  which  was  expected  at  his  hands.  He 
reached  his  camp  in  safety.  His  arrival  was  the  source  of  a  great 
triumph  and  an  unexpected  joy.  Here  he  had  been  reported  as 
having  perished,  with  all  his  army,  at  the  hands  of  the  French, 
The  deserters,  who  had  abandoned  him  on  the  route,  in  certain 
anticipation  of  this  fate,  had  not  scrupled  to  spread  this  report  by 
way  of  excusing  their  own  inconstancy  and  fears.  His  people 
accordingly  passed  instantly  from  the  extremity  of  terror  to  that 
of  joy  and  triumph.  They  marched  out,  en  masse,  at  his  approach, 
to  welcome  him  as  the  vanquisher  of  the  heretics ;  the  priests  at 
their  head,  bearing  the  cross  of  Christ,  the  conqueror,  and  chanting 
Te  Deum,  in  exultation  at  the  twofold  conquest  which  he  had  won, 
at  the  expense  equally  of  their  own,  and  the  enemies  of  the  church. 

His  triumphs  were  not  without  some  serious  qualifications.  In 
the  midst  of  their  joy,  an  incendiary,  as  he  supposed,  had  reduced 
to  ashes  the  remaining  vessels  in  the  harbor.  A  portion  of  his 
garrison,  a  little  after,  showed  themselves  in  mutiny  against  their 
ofiicers,  this  spirit  having  been  manifested  before  his  departure 
for  La  Caroline.  He  was  apprised  also  of  a  mishap  to  one  of  his 
greater  ships,  the  San  Pelayo,  which  had  been  sent  to  Hispaniola, 
filled  with  captive  Frenchmen  taken  at  different  periods,  and  who 
were  destined  to  suffer  the  question  as  heretics  in  the  Inquisition  of 
the  mother  country.  These  had  risen  upon  the  crew,  overpowered 
them,  captured  the  vessel,  and  carried  her  safely  into  Denmark. 

While  meditating,  and  seeking  to  repair  some  of  these  mishaps, 
Melendez  received  intelligence  of  Ribault  and  his  fleet,  which 
caused  him  some  inquietude.  His  own  shipping  being  destroyed, 


366  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

his  future  safety  depended  wholly  upon  the  condition  of  Ribault's 
armament,  since,  with  their  small  vessels,  his  harborage  might  be 
entered  at  any  moment,  and  his  sole  means  of  defence  lay  with  his 
troops  upon  the  land,  where  his  entrenchments  were  not  yet  suffi- 
ciently advanced  to  offer  much,  if  any  obstacle,  to  a  vigorous 
assailant.  But  farther  advices,  brought  him  by  the  savages, 
relieved  him  measurably  from  any  apprehensions  from  the  ship- 
ping of  his  enemy.  In  this  respect  the  condition  of  the  French 
was  no  better  than  his  own.  The  unfortunate  fUbault,  driven 
before  the  hurricane,  had  been  wrecked  with  all  his  squadron, 
upon  the  bleak  and  unfriendly  shores  of  Cape  Cannaverel ;  his 
troops  were  saved,  with  the  exception  of  the  crew  and  armament 
of  one  vessel,  containing  a  detachment  under  the  Sieur  de  la 
Grange,  all  of  whom  perished  but  the  captain.  Dividing  his 
troops  into  two  or  more  bodies,  Bibault  advanced  along  the  shore, 
proceeding  northerly,  in  the  direction  of  La  Caroline,  and  one  of 
his  detachments  had  reached  the  inlet  of  Matanzas,  when  Melen- 
dez  was  first  advised  of  their  approach.  He  was  told  by  the 
Indians  that  about  four  leagues  distant,  a  large  body  of  white  men 
were  embarrassed  in  their  progress  by  a  bay,  over  which  they  had 
no  means  to  pass.  Upon  this  intelligence,  the  Adelantado,  taking 
with  him  forty  picked  soldiers,  proceeded  with  all  despatch  to  the 
designated  place.  His  proceedings  were  marked  by  subtlety  and 
caution.  With  such  a  force,  he  could  hope  to  do  nothing  in  open 
warfare  against  the  numbers  of  Ribault,  which,  after  all  casualties, 
were  probably  six  or  seven  hundred  men.  But  nobody  knew 
better  than  Melendez  how  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  lion 
with  the  arts  of  the  fox.  He  concealed  his  troop  in  the  woods 
that  bordered  the  inlet,  and  from  the  top  of  a  tree  surveyed  the 
scattered  groups  of  Frenchmen  on  the  opposite  shore.  They 


THE  FORTUNES  OF  RIBAULT.  367 

were  two  hundred  in  number,  and  some  of  them  had  been  engaged 
in  the  construction  of  a  raft  with  which  to  effect  their  passage. 
But  the  roughness  of  the  waters,  and  the  strength  of  the  current 
forbade  their  reliance  upon  so  frail  a  conveyance,  and  while  they 
were  bewildered  with  doubt  and  difficulties,  Melendez  showed  him- 
self alone  upon  the  banks  of  the  river.  When  he  was  seen  from 
the  opposite  shore,  a  bold  Gascon  of  Saint  Jean  de  Luz  plunged 
fearlessly  into  the  stream,  and  succeeded  in  making  the  passage. 

"  Who  are  these  people  ?"  demanded  Melendez. 

"  We  are  Frenchmen,  all,  who  have  suffered  shipwreck." 

"  What  Frenchmen  ?" 

"  The  people  of  M.  Ribault,  Captain-General  of  Florida, 
under  commission  of  the  king  of  France." 

"  I  know  no  right  to  Florida,  on  the  part  of  France  or  French- 
men. I  am  here,  the  true  master  of  the  country,  on  behalf  of 
my  sovereign,  the  Catholic  king,  Philip  the  Second.  I  am  Pedro 
Melendez,  adelantado  of  all  this  Florida,  and  of  the  isles  thereof. 
Go  back  to  your  general  with  my  answer,  and  say  to  him,  that  I 
am  here,  followed  by  my  army,  as  I  had  intelligence  that  he  too 
was  here,  invading  the  country  in  my  charge." 

The  Gascon  returned  with  the  speech,  and  soon  after  was  per- 
suaded again  to  swim  the  stream,  with  a  request  for  a  safe  conduct 
from  the  Spanish  general,  on  behalf  of  four  gentlemen  of'  the 
French,  who  desired  to  treat  with  him.  It  was  requested  that  a 
batteau  which  Melendez  had  brought  along  shore  with  his  pro- 
visions, and  which  was  now  safely  moored  beside  the  eastern  banks, 
might  be  sent  to  bring  them  over.  To  all  this  Melendez  readily 
consented.  The  arrangement  suited  him  exactly.  His  troop  was 
still  in  reserve,  covered  rather  than  concealed  within  the  forest, 
and  so  disposed  as  to  seem  at  a  distance  to  consist  of  overwhelm- 


368  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

ing  numbers.  But  six  men  were  suffered  to  accompany  the 
Spanish  commander.  These,  well  armed,  were  quite  equal  to  the 
four  to  whom  he  accorded  the  interview.  These  soon  made  their 
appearance.  Their  leader  told  the  story  of  their  melancholy 
shipwreck,  the  privations  they  had  borne,  the  wants  under  which 
they  suffered,  and  implored  his  assistance  to  regain  a  fortress 
called  La  Caroline,  which  the  king,  his  master,  held  at  a  distance 
of  some  twenty  leagues. 

Melendez  replied — 

"  Sefior,  I  have  made  myself  the  master  of  your  fort.  I  have 
laid  strong  hands  upon  the  garrison.  I  have  slain  them  all,  sparing 
none  but  the  women,  and  such  children  as  were  under  fifteen  years." 

The  Frenchmen  looked  incredulous. 

"  If  you  doubt,''  he  continued,  "  I  can  soon  convince  you.  I 
have  brought  hither  with  me  the  only  two  soldiers  whom  I  have 
admitted  to  mercy.  I  spared  them,  because  they  claimed  to  be 
of  the  Catholic  faith.  You  shall  see  them,  and  hear  the  truth 
from  their  own  lips.  In  all  probability  you  know  them,  and  will 
recognise  their  persons.  Rest  you  here,  while  I  send  you  some- 
thing to  eat.  You  shall  see  your  compatriots,  with  some  of  the 
spoils  taken  at  La  Caroline.  These  shall  prove  to  you  the  truth 
of  what  I  say." 

With  these  words  he  disappeared.  Soon  after,  refreshments 
were  brought  to  our  Frenchmen,  and  when  they  had  eaten,  the 
two  captives  at  La  Caroline,  who  had  been  spared  on  account  of 
their  faith,  were  allowed  to  commune  with  them,  and  to  repeat  all 
the  facts  in  the  cruel  history  of  La  Caroline.  Nothing  of  that 
terrible  tragedy  was  concealed.  Melendez  had  a  policy  too  re- 
fined for  concealment,  when  the  revelation  of  his  atrocities  was  to 
be  the  means  for  their  renewal.  To  strike  the  hearts  of  the 


THE    FORTUNES    OF    R1BAULT.  369 

Frenchmen  with  such  terror,  as  to  have  them  at  his  mercy,  was  a 
profound  secret  of  success  in  dealing  with  the  wretched,  suffering, 
and  already  desponding  outcasts  in  his  presence. 

After  an  hour's  absence  he  returned. 

"  Are  you  satisfied,"  he  asked  ?  l<  of  the  truth  of  the  things 
which  I  have  told  you." 

"  We  can  doubt  no  longer;"  was  the  reply ;  "  but  this  does  not 
lessen  our  claim  upon  your  humanity  as  men,  and  your  considera- 
tion as  Frenchmen.  Our  people  are  at  peace,  there  is  amity  and 
alliance  between  our  sovereigns.  You  cannot  deny  us  assistance, 
and  the  vessels  necessary  for  our  return  to  France." 

"  Surely  not,  if  you  are  Catholics,  and  if  I  had  the  means  of 
helping  you  to  ships.  But  you  are  not  Catholics.  The  alliance 
between  our  kings  is  an  alliance  of  members  of  the  true  Church, 
both  sworn  against  heretics." 

"  We  are  members  of  the  Reformed  Church,"  was  the  reply  of 
the  officers  ;  "  but  we  are  men ;  human ;  made  equally  in  the 
image  of  the  Deity,  and  serve  the  same  God,  if  not  at  the  same 
altars.  Suffer  us,  at  least,  to  remain  with  you  for  a  season,  till 
we  can  find  the  means  for  returning  to  our  own  country." 

"  Sefior,  it  cannot  be.  As  for  sheltering  heretics,  that  is  im- 
possible. I  have 'sworn  on  the  holy  sacrament,  to  root  out  and  to 
extirpate  heresy,  wherever  I  encounter  it — by  sea  or  land — to 
wage  against  the  damnable  heresy  which  you  profess  a  war  to  the 
utterance,  as  vindictive  as  possible,  to  the  death  and  to  the  tor- 
ture; and  in  this  resolution  I  conceive  myself  to  be  serving 
equally  the  king  of  France  as  the  king,  my  sovereign.  I  am 
here  in  Florida  for  the  express  purpose  of  establishing  the  Holy 
Roman  Catholic  Faith !  I  will  assist  no  heretic  to  remain  in  the 
country." 


370  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Assist  us  to  leave  it,  sefior :  that  is  in  truth  what  we  de- 
mand." 

"  Demand  nothing  of  me.  Yield  yourselves  to  my  mercy — at 
discretion — deliver  up  your  arms  and  ensigns,  and  I  will  do  with 
you  as  God  shall  inspire  me.  Consent  to  this — these  are  my -only 
terms — or  do  what  pleases  you.  But  you  must  hope  nothing  at 
my  hands — neither  truce  nor  friendship." 

With  this  cruel  ultimatum,  he  quitted  them,  giving  them  oppor- 
tunity to  return  and  report  to  their  comrades.  In  two  hours  they 
reappeared,  and  made  him  an  offer  from  the  two  hundred  men 
gathered  on  the  opposite  banks,  of  twenty  thousand  ducats,  only 
to  be  assured  of  their  lives.  The  answer  was  as  prompt  as  it  was 
characteristic. 

"  Though  but  a  poor  soldier,  sefior,  I  am  not  capable  of  gov- 
erning myself,  in  the  performance  of  my  duties,  by  any  regard  to 
selfish  interests.  If  I  am  moved  to  do  an  act  of  grace,  it  will  be 
done  from  pure  generosity.  But  do  not  let  these  words  deceive 
you.  I  tell  you  as  a  gentleman,  and  an  officer  holding  a  high  com- 
mission from  the  king  of  Spain,  that,  though  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  may  mingle  .before  my  eyes,  the  resolution  which  I  once 
make,  I  never  change  !" 

It  will  scarcely  be  thought  possible  that  any  body  of  men, 
having  arms  in  their  hands,  and  still  in  possession  of  physical 
powers  sufficient  for  their  use,  would,  under  such  circumstances, 
listen  to  such  a  demand.  But  the  forces  of  Blbault  had  been 
terribly  demoralized  by  disaster  and  disappointment.  Privation 
had  humbled  their  souls,  and  the  utter  exhaustion  of  their  spirits 
made  them  give  credence  to  vain  hopes  of  mercy  at  the  hands  of 
then-  enemy,  which  at  another  period  they  could  never  have  en- 
tertained. The  report  of  their  envoy  found  them  ready  to  make 


THE    FORTUNES    OF    RIBAULT.  371 

any  concessions.  It  required  but  half  an  hour  to  determine  their 
submission.  The  returning  batteau  brought  over  with  four  officers 
all  their  ensigns,  sixty-six  arquebuses,  twenty  pistols,  a  large 
number  of  swords  and  bucklers,  casques  and  cuirasses,  their  whole 
complement  of  munitions,  and  a  surrender  of  the  entire  body  at 
discretion.  Melendez  gladly  seized  upon  these  spoils.  He  em- 
barked twenty  of  his  soldiers  in  his  batteau,  with  orders  to  bring 
over  the  Frenchmen,  in  small  divisions,  and  to  offer  them  no  insult ; 
but,  as  they  severally  arrived  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  bay,  they 
were  conducted  out  of  sight,  and  under  the  guns  of  his  arque- 
busiers.  They  were  then  given  to  eat,  and  when  the  repast  was 
ended,  they  were  asked  if  any  among  them  were  Catholics.  There 
were  but  eight  of  the  whole  number  who  replied  in  the  affirmative. 
These  were  set  apart,  to  be  conducted  to  St.  Augustine.  The  rest 
frankly  avowed  themselves  to  be  good  Christians  of  the  Re- 
formed Church.  These  were  immediately  seized,  their  arms  tied 
behind  their  backs,  and  in  little  squads  of  six,  were  conducted  to 
a  spot  in  the  background,  where  Melendez  had  traced,  with  his 
cane,  a  line  upon  the  sand.  Here  they  were  butchered  to  a  man, 
each  succeeding  body  sharing  the  same  fate,  without  knowing,  till 
too  late,  that  of  their  comrades.  There  was  no  pause,  no  mercy, 
no  relentings  in  behalf  of  any.  All  perished,  to  the  number  of 
two  hundred ;  and  Pedro  Melendez  returned  to  his  camp  at  St. 
Augustine,  again  to  be  welcomed  with  Te  Deum,  and  the  accla- 
mation for  good  Christian  service^  from  a  Christian  people. 


372  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  congratulations  of  his  people  were  yet  resounding  in  his 
ears,  when  the  savages  brought  him  further  intelligence  of  French- 
men gathered  upon  the  borders  of  that  bay  which  had  arrested  the 
progress  of  the  previous  detachment.  They  were  represented  to 
be  more  numerous  than  the  first,  and  Melendez  did  not  doubt  that 
they  constituted  the  bulk  of  Ribault's  force  under  the  immediate 
command  of  that  leader.  He  proceeded  to  encounter  him  as  he 
had  done  the  other  party,  but  on  this  occasion  he  increased  his 
own  detachment  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  These  he  ranged 
in  good  order  during  the  night,  along  the  banks  of  the  river, 
which  the  Huguenots  had  begun  their  preparations  to  pass.  They 
had  been  at  work  upon  the  radeau  or  raft  which  had  been  begun 
by  the  preceding  party,  but  their  progress  had  been  unsatisfac- 
tory, and  the  prospect  of  the  passage,  in  such  a  vessel,  over  such 
an  arm  of  the  sea,  was  quite  as  discouraging  as  to  their  predecessors. 
With  the  dawn,  and  when  they  discovered  the  force  of  Melendez 
on  the  opposite  shore,  the  drums  sounded  the  alarm,  the  royal 
standard  of  France  was  advanced,  and  the  troops  were  ranged  in 
order  of  battle.  Poor  Ribault  still  observed  the  externals  of  the 
veteran,  if  only  to  conceal  the  real  infirmities  which  impaired  the 
moral  of  his  command. 

Seeing  this  display  of  determination,  Melendez,  with  proper 
policy,  commanded  his  people  to  proceed  to  breakfast  without  any 
show  of  excitement  or  emotion.  He  himself  promenaded  the  banks 
of  the  river,  accompanied  only  by  his  admiral  and  two  other 
officers,  as  indifferently  as  if  there  had  been  no  person  on  the 
opposite  -side.  With  this,  the  clamors  of  the  French  tambours 


THE  FORTUNES  OP  RIBAULT.  373 

ceased — the  fifes  were  allowed  to  take  breath — and  in  place  of  the 
warlike  standard  of  their  country,  the  commander  of  the  Hugue- 
nots displayed  a  white  flag  as  sign  of  peace,  and  his  trumpets 
sounded  for  a  parley.  A  response  from  the  Spanish  side  of  the 
river,  in  similar  spirit,  caused  one  of  the  Frenchmen  to  advance 
within  speaking  distance,  upon  the  raft,  who  requested  that  some- 
body might  be  sent  them,  as  their  radeau  could  not  contend 
against  the  current.  A  pirogue  was  finally  sent  by  the  Spaniard, 
which  brought  over  the  sergeant-major  of  Ribault.  This  man 
related  briefly  the  necessities  and  desires  of  his  commander. 
He  was  totally  ignorant  of  all  that  kad  taken  place.  He  had  been 
wrecked,  and  had  lost  all  his  vessels  ;  that  he  had  with  him  three 
hundred  and  fifty  soldiers ;  that  he  was  desirous  of  reaching  his 
fortress,  twenty  leagues  distant ;  and  prayed  the  assistance  of  the 
Spaniards,  to  enable  him  to  do  so.  At  the  close,  he  desired  to 
know  with  whom  he  was  conferring. 

Melendez  answered  as  directly  as  he  had  done  in  the  previous 
instance,  when  dealing  with  the  first  detachment.  He  did  not 
scruple  to  add  to  the  narrative  of  the  capture  of  La  Caroline,  and 
the  cruel  murder  of  its  garrison,  the  farther  history  of  the  party 
whom  he  had  encountered  in  the  same  place  with  themselves. 

"  I  have  punished  all  these  with  death  ;"  he  continued ;  and, 
still  further  to  assure  the  officer  of  Ribault  of  the  truth  of  what 
he  said,  he  took  him  to  the  spot  where  lay  in  a  heap  the  exposed, 
the  bleached  and  decaying  bodies  of  his  slaughtered  companions. 
The  Frenchman  looked  steadily  at  the  miserable  spectacle,  and 
so  far  commanded  his  nerves  as  to  betray  no  emotion.  He  con- 
tinued his  commission  without  faltering  ;  and  obtained  from  Me- 
landez  a  surety  in  behalf  of  Kibault,  with  four  or  six  of  his  men, 
to  cross  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  conference,  with  the  privilege 


374      .  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

of  returning  to  his  forces  at  his  leisure.  But  the  adelantado 
positively  refused  to  let  the  Frenchmen  have  his  shallop  or  bateau. 
The  pirogue,  alone,  was  at  their  service.  With  this,  the  French 
general  could  pass  the  strait  without  risk;  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  content  himself  with  this.  The  policy  of  Melendez  was 
not  willing  to  place  any  larger  vessel  in  his  power. 

Ribault  crossed  to  the  conference,  accompanied  by  eight  of  his 
officers.  They  were  well  received  by  the  adelantado,  and  a  colla- 
tion spread  for  them.  He  showed  them  afterwards  the  bodies  of 
their  slain  companions.  He  gave  them  the  full  history  of  the 
taking  of  La  Caroline,  and  the  treatment  of  the  garrison,  and 
brought  forward  the  two  Frenchmen,  claiming  to  be  Catholics, 
whose  lives  had  been  spared  when  the  rest  were  massacred. 
There  was  something  absolutely  satanic  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Spaniard,  by  which  Ribault  was  confounded.  He  was  not  willing 
to  believe  the  facts  that  he  could  not  question. 

"  Monsieur,'7  said  he  to  Laudonniere,  "  I  will  not  believe  that 
you  design  us  evil.  Our  kings  are  friends  and  brothers,  and  in 
the  name  of  this  alliance  between  them,  I  conjure  you  to  furnish 
us  with  a  vessel  for  returning  to  our  country.  We  have  suffered 
enough  in  this  :  we  will  leave  it  in  your  hands  entirely.  Help  us 
to  the  means  necessary  for  our  departure." 

To  this  Melendez  replied  in  the  very  same  language  which  he 
had  used  to  the  preceding  detachment : 

"  Our  kings  are  Catholics  both ;  they  hold  terms  with  one 
another,  but  not  with  heretics.  I  will  make  no  terms  with  you. 
I  will  hold  no  bonds  with  heretics  anywhere.  You  have  heard 
what  I  have  done  with  your  comrades.  You  hear  what  has  been 
the  fate  of  La  Caroline.  You  behold  the  corses  of  those  who  but 
a  few  days  ago  followed  your  banner ;  and  now  I  say  to  you  that 


THE    FORTUNES   OF    RIBAULT.  375 

you  must  yield  to  my  discretion,  leaving  it  to  me  to  do  with  you 
as  Grod  shall  determine  me  !" 

Aghast  and  confounded,  Ribault  declared  his  purpose  to  return 
and  consult  with  his  people.  In  a  case  so  extreme,  particularly 
as  he  had  with  him  many  gentlemen  of  family,  he  could  not 
undertake  to  decide  without  their  participation.  Melendez 
approved  this  determination,  and  the  general  of  the  French 
re-crossed  the  river. 

For  three  hours  was  the  consultation  carried  on  in  the  camp  of 
our  Huguenots.  Ribault  fully  revealed  the  terrible  history  of 
what  had  passed,  of  what  he  had  heard  and  seen  in  the  camp  of  the 
Spaniards.  The  cold  and  cruel  decision  of  Melendez  in  their  case, 
as  in  that  of  the  previous  troops,  was  unfolded  without  reserve. 
There  were  no  concealments,  and,  for  a  time,  a  dull,  deep  and 
dreary  silence  overspread  the  assembly.  But  all  had  not  been 
crushed  by  misfortune  into  imbecility.  There  were  some  noble  and 
fierce  spirits  whose  hearts  rose  in  all  their  strength  of  resolution, 
as  they  listened  to  the  horrible  narrative  and  the  insolent  exac- 
tion. 

"  Better  perish  a  thousand  deaths,  in  the  actual  conflict  with  a 
thousand  enemies,  than  thus  submit  to  perish  in  cold  blood  from 
the  stroke  of  the  cowardly  assassin  !" 

Such  was  the  manly  resolution  of  many.  Others,  again,  like 
Ribault,  were  disposed  to  hope  against  all  experience.  The  fact 
that  Melendez  had  treated  them  so  civilly,  that  he  had  placed 
food  and  drink  before  them,  and  that  his  manners  were  respect- 
ful and  his  tones  were  mild,  were  assumed  by  them  to  be  conclu- 
sive they  were  not  to  suffer  as  their  predecessors  had  done. 

"  They  were  beguiled  with  the  same  arguments,"  said  young 
Alphonse  D'Erlach ;  "  arguments  which  appealed  to  their  hunger 


376  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

their  thirst,  their  exhaustion,  and  their  spiritless  hearts — argu- 
ments against  truth,  and  common  sense  and  their  own  eyes.  He 
who  listens  to  such  arguments  will  merit  to  fall  by  the  hands  of 
the  assassin.'7 

"We  need  not  pursue  the  debate  which  continued  for  three 
hours.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  Ribault  returned  to  the  landing. 

"  A  portion  of  my  people,"  he  said,  "  but  not  the  greater  num- 
ber, are  prepared  to  surrender  themselves  to  you  at  discretion." 

"  They  are  their  own  masters,"  replied  Melendez  ;  "  they  must 
do  as  they  please ;  to  me  it  is  quite  indifferent  what  decision  they 
make." 

Ribault  continued : 

"  Those  who  are  thus  prepared  to  yield  themselves  have  in- 
structed me  to  offer  you  twenty  thousand  ducats  for  their  ransom  ; 
but  the  others  will  give  even  a  greater  sum,  for  they  include 
among  them  many  persons  of  great  wealth  and  family  ; — nay,  they 
desire  further,  if  you  will  suffer  it,  to  remain  still  in  the  country." 

"  I  shall  certainly  need  some  succors,"  replied  Melendez,  "  in 
order  to  execute  properly  the  commands  of  the  king,  my  master, 
which  are  to  conquer  the  country  and  to  people  it,  establishing 
here  the  Holy  Evangel ; — and  I  should  grieve  to  forego  any  as- 
sistance." 

This  evasive  answer  was  construed  by  Ribault  according  to  his 
desires.  He  requested  permission  to  return  and  deliberate  with 
his  people,  in  order  to  communicate  this  last  response.  He  readily 
obtained  what  he  asked,  and  the  night  was  consumed  among  the 
Huguenots  in  consultation.  It  brought  no  unanimity  to  their 
counsels. 

"  I  will  sooner  trust  the  incarnate  devil  himself,  than  this  Me- 
lendez," was  the  resolution  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach  to  his  elder 


THE  FORTUNES  OF  RIBAULT.  377 

brother.  "  Go  not,  mon  frere,  yield  not :  the  savage  Floridian  has 
no  heart  so  utterly  stony  as  that  of  this  Spaniard.  I  will  peril 
anything  with  the  savage,  ere  I  trust  to  his  doubtful  mercy." 

And  such  was  the  resolve  of  many  others,  but  it  was  not  that  of 
Ribault. 

"What!"  exclaimed  one  of  his  friendly  counsellors — "he  has 
shown  you  our  slain  comrades,  butchered  under  the  very  arrange- 
ment which  he  accords  to  us,  and  yet  you  trust  to  him?" 

The  infatuated  leader,  broken  in  spirit,  and  utterly  exhausted 
in  the  struggle  with  fate,  replied  : 

"  That  he  has  freely  shown  me  what  he  has  done,  is  no  proof 
that  he  designs  any  such  deeds  hereafter.  His  fury  is  satiated. 
It  is  impossible  that  he  will  commit  a  like  crime  of  this  nature. 
It  is  his  pride  that  would  have  us  wholly  in  his  power." 

"  He  hath  fed  on  blood  until  he  craves  it,"  cried  Alphonse 
D'Erlach.  "  You  go  to  your  death,  Monsieur  Ribault.  The  tiger 
invites  you  to  a  banquet  where  the  guest  brings  the  repast." 

He  was  unheard,  at  least  by  the  Huguenot  general. 

"  We  will  leave  this  man,  my  friends," cried  AlphonseD'Erlach, 
the  strong  will  and  great  heart  naturally  rising  to  command 
in  the  moment  of  extremity.  "  We  will  leave  this  man.  Quern 
Deus  vult  perdere  prius  dementat.  He  goes  to  the  sacrifice  !" 

And  when  Ribault  prepared  in  the  morning  to  lead  his  people 
across  the  bay,  he  found  but  an  hundred  and  fifty  of  all  the  force 
that  he  commanded  during  the  previous  day.  Two  hundred  had 
disappeared  in  the  night  under  the  guidance  of  D'Erlach. 


378  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  fates  had  the  blinded  Ribault  in  their  keeping.  He  was 
ferried  across  the  stream  for  the  last  time,  by  the  grim  ferryman 
vouchsafed  him ;  and  the  trophies  which  he  first  laid  at  the  feet 
of  the  adelantado  consisted  of  his  own  armor,  a  dagger,  a  casque 
of  gold,  curiously  and  beautifully  wrought ;  his  buckler,  his  pis- 
tolet,  and  a  secret  commission  which  he  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  Admiral  Coligny  himself.  The  standards  of  France  and  of 
the  Admiral  were  then  lowered  at  the  feet  of  the  Spaniard,  then 
the  banners  of  companies,  and  finally  the  sword  of  the  Huguenot 
general.  Never  was  submission  more  complete  and  shameful. 
The  spirit  of  the  veteran  was  utterly  broken  and  gone.  But  this 
degradation  was  not  thus  to  end.  Melendez  gave  orders  that  he 
and  the  companions  he  had  brought  with  him,  eight  in  number, 
should  be  tied  with  their  hands  behind  their  backs.  The  indig- 
nity brought  the  blush  with  tenfold  warmth  into  the  cheeks  of  the 
old  warrior.  He  foresaw  the  inevitable  doom  before  him,  but  he 
felt  the  shame  only. 

"  Have  I  lived  for  this  ?  Is  it  thus,  Monsieur  Melendez,  that 
you  treat  a  warrior  and  a  Christian  ?" 

"  Grod  forbid  that  I  should  treat  a  Christian  after  this  fashion. 
But  are  you  a  Christian,  sefior  ?"  ,';*:.« 

"  Of  the  Reformed  Church,  I  am  !"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  do  not  hold  yours,  sefior,  to  be  a  church  of  Christ,  but  of 
Satan.  Bind  him,  my  comrades,  and  take  him  hence." 

A  significant  wave  of  the  fatal  staff,  which  had  prescribed  the 
line  upon  the  spot  of  earth  selected  as  the  chosen  place  of  sacri- 
fice— the  scene  of  a  new  auto-da-fe  as  fearful  as  the  preceding — 


THE    FORTUNES    OF    RIBAULT.  379 

finished  his  instructions,  and  as  the  guards  led  the  veteran  away, 
he  commenced,  in  the  well-known  spirit  of  the  time,  to  sing  aloud 
the  psalm  "  Domine,  memento  mei,  &c.,"  in  that  fearful  moment 
well  conceiving  that  there  was  left  him  now  but  one  source  of  con- 
solation, and  none  of  present  hope.  He  addressed  no  words  of 
expostulation  to  his  murderer ;  but  as  they  led  him  away,  he 
calmly  remarked — "  From  the  earth  we  came,  to  the  earth  we 
must  return ;  soon  or  late,  it  is  all  the  same  ;  such  must  have 
been  the  fate.  It  is  not  what  we  would,  but  what  we  must." 

He  renewed  his  psalm,  the  sounds  of  which  grated  offensively 
on  the  bigot  ears  of  Melendez,  falling  from  such  lips,  and  he  im- 
patiently made  the  signal  to  his  men  to  expedite  the  affair.  The 
Huguenot  general  was  led  off  singing.  One  of  the  accounts  be- 
fore us — for  there  is  a  Spanish  and  a  French  version  of  the  his- 
tory, differing  in  several  minute,  but  really  unimportant  particulars 
— describes  the  last  scene  of  Ribault's  career,  in  a  brief  but 
striking  manner.  The  eight  which  constituted  this  party  had 
each  his  assassin  assigned  him.  Among  the  companions  of  Ri- 
bault  at  the  moment  of  execution,  was  Lieutenant  Ottigny,  of 
whom  we  have  heard  more  than  once  before  in  the  history  of  La 
Caroline.  They  were  led  into  the  woods,  out  of  sight  and  hear- 
ing of  the  French  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay,  all  of  whom 
were  to  be  brought  over,  ten  by  ten,  to  the  same  place  of  sacrifice. 
The  soldier  to  whom  Ribault  had  been  confided,  when  they  had 
reached  the  spot  strewn  thickly  with  the  corses  of  his  murdered 
people,  said  to  him — 

"  Senor,  you  are  the  general  of  the  French  ?" 

"lam!" 

"  You  have  always  been  accustomed  to  exact  obedience,  with- 
out question,  from  all  the  people  under  your  command  ?" 


380  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

"  Without  doubt !"  replied  Ribault,  somewhat  wondering  at 
the  question. 

"  Deem  it  not  strange,  then,  sefior,"  continued  the  soldier,  "  that 
I  execute  faithfully  the  orders  I  have  received  from  my  command- 
ant !" 

And,  speaking  these  words,  he  drove  his  poignard  into  the  heart 
of  the  victim,  who  fell  upon  his  face,  in  death,  without  uttering  a 
groan.  Ottigny  and  the  others  perished  in  like  manner,  and  with 
no  farther  preliminaries.  Why  pursue  the  details  with  the  rest  ? 
In  this  mannner  each  unconscious  band  of  the  Huguenots,  thus 
surrendering  to  the  clemency  of  Melendez,  was  simply  ferried 
across  the  river  to  execution.  And  still  the  boat  returned  for  and 
with  its  little  compliment  of  ten — it  was  only  a  proper  precaution 
that  denied  that  more  should  be  brought— and  the  succeeding 
voyagers  dreamed  not,  even  as  they  sped,  their  comrades  were 
sinking  one  by  one  under  the  hands  of  their  butchers.  More  than 
a  hundred  perished  on  this  occasion,  but  four  of  the  number 
avowing  themselves  to  be  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  be- 
ing spared  accordingly. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OP    THOSE   WHO    REFUSED    TO     FOLLOW    THE    FORTUNES  OF 
RIBAULT. 

WE  have  seen  that  two  hundred  of  the  followers  of  Ribault 
had  refused  to  submit  to  the  arrangement,  by  which  that  unhappy 
commander  had  sacrificed  himself  and  all  those  who  accompanied 
him  into  the  camp  of  Melendez.  These  two  hundred  had  been 


THE    FORTUNES   OF    RIBAULT.  381 

counselled  to  the  more  manly  course  which  they  had  taken,  by 
the  youthful  but  sagacious  lieutenant,  Alphonse  D'Erlach.  This 
young  man  well  understood  their  enemy.  His  counsel,  if  followed 
by  Ribault,  would  probably  have  resulted  in  conquest  rather  than 
misfortune. 

"  We  are  strong," — said  D'Erlach  to  his  companions — "  strong 
enough  to  maintain  ourselves  in  any  position,  which  we  may  take 
and  hold  with  steadfastness.  We  have  three  hundred  and  fifty 
soldiers,  all  with  arms  in  their  hands,  and  it  requires  only  that  we 
shall  use  our  arms  and  maintain  our  independence.  Why  treat 
at  all  with  the  Spaniards  ?  They  may  assist  us  across  this 
strait,  but  why  cross  it  at  all  ?  To  gain  La  Caroline  ?  That, 
according  to  his  own  showing,  is  already  in  his  hands.  Indeed,  of 
this,  you  tell  us,  there  can  be  no  question.  What  then  ?  Of 
what  avail  to  seek  the  post  which  he  has  garrisoned,  and  which, 
properly  fortified,  is  beyond  our  utmost  strength.  It  is  evident 
that,  fortifying  La  Caroline  and  his  new  post  on  the  banks  of  the 
Salooe,  he  has  no  available  force  with  which  he  dares  assail  us. 
In  the  meantime,  let  us  leave  this  position.  Let  us  retire  further 
to  the  south,  regain  the  coast  upon  which  our  vessels  were  wrecked, 
rebuild  them,  or  one  at  least,  in  which,  if  your  desire  is  to  return 
to  France,  we  can  re-embark ;  or,  as  I  would  counsel,  retire  to  a 
remoter  settlement,  where  we  may  fortify  ourselves,  and  establish 
the  colony  anew,  for  which  we  first  came  to  Florida.  Why  aban- 
don the  country,  when  we  are  in  sufficient  strength  to  keep  it  ? 
Why  forego  the  enterprises  which  offer  us  gold  and  silver  in  abun- 
dance, a  genial  climate,  a  fertile  soil,  a  boundless  domain,  in  which 
our  fortunes  and  our  faith  may  be  made  equally  secure.  As  for 
the  savages  of  Florida,  I  know  them  and  I  fear  them  not.  They 
are  terrible  only  to  the  timid  and  the  improvident.  With  due 


382  THE   LILY   AND    THE   TOTEM. 

precautions,  a  proper  courage,  and  arms  in  our  hands,  we  shall 
mock  at  their  wandering  bands,  whose  attacks  are  inconstant,  and 
upon  whom  the  caprice  of  the  seasons  is  forever  working  such  evil 
as  will  prevent  them  always  from  bringing  large  numbers  together, 
or  keeping  them  long  in  one  organization.  But,  hold  the  savages 
to  be  as  terrible  as  you  may,  they  are  surely  less  to  be  feared,  are 
less  faithless  and  less  hostile,  than  these  sanguinary  Spaniards.  Bo 
not,  at  all  events,  deliver  yourselves,  bound  hand  and  foot,  in 
petty  numbers,  to  be  butchered  in  detail,  by  this  monstrous  cut- 
throat!" 

His  counsels  prevailed  with  the  greater  number.  They  left  the 
camp  of  Ribault  at  midnight,  and  commenced  their  silent  march 
along  the  coast,  making  for  the  bleak  shores  which  had  seen  their 
vessels  stranded.  Here  they  arrived  after  much  toil  and  priva- 
tion, and,  cheered  by  the  manly  courage  of  D'Erlach,  they  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  build  themselves  a  vessel  which  should  suffice 
for  their  escape  from  the  country,  or  enable  them  to  penetrate 
without  difficulty  to  regions  not  yet  under  the  control  of  the 
Spaniards.  For  the  work  before  them  they  possessed  the  proper 
facilities.  The  fragments  of  their  shattered  navy  were  within 
then-  reach.  The  expedition  had  been  properly  provided  with 
carpenters  and  laborers  ;  and  in  that  day  every  mariner  was  some- 
thing of  a  mechanic.  They  advanced  rapidly  with  their  work,  but 
at  the  end  of  three  weeks  the  clouds  gathered  once  more  about 
their  heads.  Once  more  the  haughty  banners  of  the  Spaniard 
were  beheld,  the  vindictive  enemy  being  resolved  to  give  them  no 
respite,  to  allow  of  no  refuge  upon  the  soil,  to  afford  them  no 
prospect  of  escape  from  the  country. 

Advised  by  the  Indians  that  the  surviving  Frenchmen  were  at 
work  at  Carnaverel,  building  themselves  both  fortresses  and  ves- 


THE    FORTUNES   OP    RIBAULT.  383 

sels,  Melendez  sent  an  express  to  the  Governor  of  San  Matheo, 
late  La  Caroline,  with  orders  to  send  him  instantly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  of  his  men.  These  arrived  at  St.  Augustine  on  the  23d 
of  October,  under  the  conduct  of  Don  Andres  Lopez  Patino,  and 
of  Don  Jean  Velez  de  Medrano.  To  these  troops  Melendez 
added  a  like  number  from  his  own  garrison,  and  on  the  26th  or 
the  month,  they  commenced  their  march  to  the  south,  on  foot. 
His  provisions  and  munitions  were  sent  in  two  shallops  along  the 
shore,  and  each  night  they  came  to  anchor  opposite  his  camp. 
On  the  first  day  of  November,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  French. 
These,  immediately  abandoned  their  work,  and  seizing  their  arms 
retired  to  a  small  sandy  elevation  which  they  had  previously 
selected  as  a  place  of  refuge  against  attack,  and  which  they  had 
strengthened  by  some  slight  defences.  Here  they  prepared  for 
a  desperate  and  deadly  struggle.  The  force  of  their  assailants 
was  one-third  stronger  than  their  own.  They  had  the  advantage, 
also,  of  supplies  and  munitions,  in  which  the  Frenchmen  were 
deficient ;  but  a  sense  of  desperation  increased  their  courage,  and 
they  showed  no  disposition  to  entreat  or  parley.  But  Melendez 
had  no  desire  to  compel  them  to  a  struggle  in  which  even 
success  would  probably  be  fatal  ultimately  to  himself.  His  main 
strength  was  with  him,  but  should  he  suffer  greatly  in  the  assault, 
as  it  was  very  evident  he  must,  the  French  being  in  a  good  posi- 
tion, and  showing  the  most  determined  front,  his  army  would  be 
too  greatly  weakened,  perhaps,  even  for  their  safe  return  to  St. 
Augustine,  through  a  country  filled  with  hostile  Indians,  whom, 
as  yet,  he  had  neither  conquered  nor  conciliated.  Having 
reconnoitred  the  position  taken  by  the  Frenchmen,  he  generously 
made  them  overtures  of  safety.  He  proposed  not  only  to  spare 


384  THE  ULY  AND  THE  TOTEM. 

their  lives,  but  promised  to  receive  as  many  of  them  as  thought 
proper,  into  his  own  ranks  as  soldiers. 

This  offer  led  to  a  long  and  almost  angry  conference  among  the 
French.  Their  councils  were  divided.  Many  of  their  leaders 
were  men  wholly  ignorant  of  the  country,  and  disheartened  by 
the  cruel  vicissitudes  and  dangers  through  which  they  had  passed. 
Many  of  them  were  persons  of  wealth  and  family,  who  were 
anxious  once  more  to  find  themselves  in  a  position  which 
demanded  no  farther  struggle,  and  which  might  facilitate  their 
return  to  the  haunts  of  civilization.  Others,  again,  were  Catho- 
lics, whose  sympathies  were  not  active  in  behalf  of  the  Huguenots 
with  whom  they  now  found  themselves  in  doubtful  connection. 
Others  were  jealous  of  the  sudden  spring  to  authority,  which,  in 
those  moments  of  peril  when  all  others  trembled,  had  been  made 
by  the  young  adventurer,  Alphonse  D'Erlach.  It  was  in  vain 
that  he  counselled  them  against  giving  faith  to  the  Spaniards. 

"  What  is  your  security,  my  friends  ?  His  word  ?  His  pledge 
of  mercy  to  you,  when  he  showed  none  to  your  brethren  ?  Look 
at  the  hand  which  he  stretches  out  to  you ;  it  is  yet  dripping 
with  the  blood  of  your  people,  butchered,  in  cold  blood,  at  La 
Caroline,  and  the  Bay  of  Matanzas.  Trust  him  not,  if  you 
would  prosper — if  ye  would  not  perish  likewise.  Believe  none 
of  his  assurances,  even  though  he  should  swear  upon  the  Holy 
Evangel." 

"  But  what  are  we  to  do,  Monsieur  D'Erlach  ?  We  have 
small  provisions  here.  He  hath  environed  us  with  his  troops." 

"  We  may  break  through  his  troops.  We  have  arms  in  our 
hands,  and  if  we  have  but  the  heart  to  use  them,  like  men,  we 
may  not  only  save  ourselves,  but  avenge  our  butchered 
comrades." 


THE    FORTUNES    OF    RIBAULT.  385 

His  entreaties  and  arguments  were  unavailing.  It  was  suffi- 
cient for  our  broken-spirited  exiles  that  Melendez  had  volunteered 
to  them  those  guaranties  of  safety  which  he  had  denied  to  their 
brethren.  They  prepared  to  yield. 

u  Go  not  thou  with  these  people,  my  brother,"  said  Alphonse 
D'Erlach,  to  that  elder  brother  whom  we  have  seen,  with  him- 
self, a  trusted  lieutenant  of  Laudonniere.  He  flung  himself 
tenderly  upon  the  bosom  of  the  other,  as  he  prayed,  and  the 
moisture  gathered  in  his  eyes.  The  elder  was  touched,  but  his 
inclinations  led  him  with  the  rest. 

"  He  hath  sworn  to  us,  Alphonse,  that  life  shall  be  spared  us, 
and  that  we  shall  be  free  to  enter  his  service  or  return  to 
France." 

"  Would  you  place  life  at  his  mercy  ?" 

"  It  is  so  now  !" 

"  No  !  never  !  while  the  hand  may  grasp  the  weapon.  If  we 
would  defy  him  as  men,  we  should  rather  have  his  life  at  ours. 
Oh  !  would  that  we  were  men.  Enter  his  service  !  Dost  thou 
think  of  this  ?  Wouldst  thou  receive  commands  from  the  lips  of 
him  who  hath  murdered  thy  old  commander  !" 

"No  !  surely,  I  shall  never  serve  Melendez.  I  seek  this  only 
as  the  mean  whereby  to  return  to  France." 

u  And  wherefore  return  to  France  ?  What  hath  France  in  re- 
serve for  us  but  the  shot,  the  torture,  and  the  scourge".  Here, 
brother,  here,  with  the  wild  Floridian,  let  us  make  our  home. 
Let  us  rather  put  on  the  untamed  habits  of  the  savage,  his  gar- 
ments torn  from  bear  and  panther  ;  let  us  anoint  our  bodies  with 
oil ;  let  us  stain  our  cheeks  with  ocre ;  and  taking  bond  with  the 
Apalachian  and  Floridian,  let  us  haunt  the  footsteps  of  the 

Spaniard  with  death  and  eternal  hatred,  till  we  leave  not  one  of 
17 


386  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

them  living  for  the  pollution  of  the  soil.  This  is  my  purpose, 
brother,  though  I  go  forth  into  the  wilderness  alone  !" 

"  Thou  shalt  not  go  alone,  Alphonse.  We  will  live  and  die 
together." 

The  brothers  embraced.  The  bond  was  knit  between  them, 
whatever  might  be  the  event ;  and  when,  at  morning,  the  main 
body  of  the  Frenchmen  surrendered  themselves  to  the  Spanish 
adelantado,  the  Erlachs  were  not  among  them.  They,  with 
twenty  others,  all  Huguenots,  who  detested  equally  the  power 
and  feared  the  savage  fanaticism  of  Melendez,  had  disappeared 
silently  in  the  night,  leaving  as  a  message  for  the  Spanish  chief, 
that  they  preferred  infinitely  to  be  devoured  by  the  savages,  than 
to  receive  his  mercy.  Melendez  looked  anxiously  to  the  dark 
forests  in  which  they  had  shrouded  themselves  from  his  pur- 
suit. He  would  gladly  have  penetrated  their  depths  of  shadow 
and  then*  secret  glooms,  in  search  of  victims,  whom  he  certainly 
never  would  have  spared  if  caught ;  but  the  object  was  too  small 
for  the  peril  which  it  involved  ;  and  having  destroyed  the  fort  and 
shipping  which  they  had  been  building,  content  with  having 
broken  up  the  power  of  the  French  in  the  country,  he  returned 
with  his  captives  to  St.  Augustine.  He  kept  his  faith  with 
them.  Many  of  them  joined  themselves  to  his  troops,  and  accom- 
panied his  expeditions,  and  others  who  were  Huguenots  found  new 
favor  with  him  by  undergoing  conversion  to  his  faith.  With  this 
chapter  fairly  ends  the  history  of  the  Huguenot  colonies  of 
Coligny  in  Florida  ;  but  other  histories  followed  which  will  require 
other  chapters. 


XXIV. 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH. 

THE  dawn  of  the  morning  after  the  separation  of  D'Erlachwith 
his  few  companions  from  the  great  body  of  the  French,  found  the 
former  emerging  from  a  dense  thicket  which  they  had  traversed 
through  the  night.  They  were  still  but  a  few  miles  from 
their  late  encampment.  A  bright  and  generous  sun,  almost 
the  first  that  had  shone  for  several  weeks  in  unclouded  heavens, 
seemed  to  smile  upon  their  desperate  enterprise.  The  cries  of 
wild  fowl  awaking  in  the  forests,  with  occasionally  the  merry 
chaunt  of  some  native  warbler,  arousing  to  the  day,  spake  also  in 
the  language  of  encouragement.  On  the  borders  of  a  little  lake, 
they  found  some  wild  ducks  feeding,  which  they  approached  with- 
out alarming  them,  and  the  fire  of  a  couple  of  arquebuses  gave 
them  sufficient  food  for  the  day.  A  small  supply  of  maize,  pre- 
pared after  the  Indian  fashion,  was  borne  by  each  of  the  party, 
but  this  was  carefully  preserved  for  use  in  a  moment  of  necessity. 
Assuming  the  possibility  of  their  being  pursued,  the  youthful 
leader  urged  their  progress  until  noon,  when  they  halted  for  re- 
pose, in  a  dense  thicket,  which  promised  to  give  them  shelter. 
Here,  having  himself  undertaken  the  watch,  Alphonse  D'Erlaoh 


388  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

counselled  his  people  to  seek  for  a  renewal  of  their  strength  in 
slumber.  They  followed  his  counsel  without  scruple,  though  not 
without  a  struggle  on  the  part  of  his  brother,  and  others  among 
them,  to  share  his  watch.  This  he  would  not  permit,  alleging  his 
inability  to  sleep,  but  promising,  when  he  felt  thus  disposed,  to 
devolve  his  present  duty  upon  others.  Long  and  sweet  was  the 
slumbers  which  they  enjoyed,  and  unbroken  by  any  alarm. 
When  they  awakened,  the  sun  had  sloped  greatly  in  the  western 
heavens,  and  but  two  or  three  marching  hours  remained  of  the 
day.  These  they  employed  with  earnestness  and  vigor.  The 
night  found  them  on  the  edge  of  a  great  basin,  or  lake,  thickly 
fenced  in  with  great  trees,  and  a  dense  and  bewildering  thicket. 
As  the  day  closed,  immense  flocks  of  wild  fowl,  geese,  ducks,  and 
cranes,  alighted  within  the  waters  of  the  lake,  and  again  did  the 
arquebusiers,  with  a  few  shot,  provide  ample  food  for  the  ensuing 
day.  Here  they  built  themselves  a  fire,  around  which  the 
whole  party  crouched,  a  couple  only  of  their  number  being 
posted  as  sentinels  on  the  hill  side,  from  which  alone  was  it  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  an  enemy  would  appear.  Again  did  they 
sleep  without  disturbance,  arising  with  the  dawn,  again  to  resume 
their  progress.  But  before  they  commenced  their  journey,  a 
solemn  council  was  held  as  to  the  course  which  they  should 
pursue.  On  this  subject  the  mind  of  their  youthful  leader  had 
already  adopted  a  leading  idea.  His  experience  in  the  country, 
as  well  as  that  of  his  brother,  during  frequent  progresses,  had 
enabled  them  to  form  a  very  correct  notion  of  the  topography  of 
the  region.  Besides,  several  of  their  followers,  were  of  the  first 
colonies  of  Bibault,  and  had  accompanied  Laudonniere,  Ottigny, 
and  both  the  Erlachs  on  various  expeditions  among  the  Indians. 
"  We  are  now  upon  the  great  promontory  of  the  Floridian,"  said 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  389 

Alphonse,  "  a  region  full  of  dense  thickets  and  impenetrable 
swamps.  These  we  should  labor  to  avoid,  as  well  as  any  approach 
in  the  direction  of  the  Spaniards.  By  pursuing  a  course  inclining 
to  the  north-west  for  a  while,  we  shall  be  enabled  to  do  so,  and 
this  done,  gradually  steering  for  the  north-east,  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  reach  the  great  mountains  of  the  Apalachia.  This  is  a 
region  where,  as  we  know,  the  red-men  are  more  mild  and  gentle, 
more  laborious,  with  larger  fields  of  grain,  and  more  hospitably 
given  than  those  which  inhabit  the  coasts.  It  may  be  that  having 
sufficiently  ascended  the  country,  it  will  be  our  policy  to  leave  the 
mountains  on  our  left,  following  at  their  feet,  until  we  shall  have 
passed  the  territories  in  the  immediate  possession  of  the  Spaniard. 
Then  it  will  be  easy  to  speed  downwards  to  the  eastern  coasts, 
where  the  people  always  received  us  with  welcome  and  affection. 
We  may  thus  renew  our  intercouse  with  the  tribes  that  skirt  the 
bay  of  St.  Helena — the  tribes  of  Audusta,  Ouade,  Maccou  and 
others  of  which  ye  wot.  But,  whether  we  take  this  direction  or 
not,  our  present  course  should  be  as  I  have  described  it.  When 
we  have  reached  the  country  where  the  land  greatly  rises,  it  will 
be  with  us  to  choose  our  farther  progress.  There  is  gold,  as  we 
know,  in  abundance  in  these  mountains  of  the  Apalachian ;  and  it 
may  be  our  good  hap  even  to  attain  to  the  great  city  of  the  moun- 
tains of  which  Potanou  and  others  have  spoken,  and  to  which 
certain  travellers  have  given  the  name  of  the  Grand  Copal,  of  the 
existence  of  which  I  nothing  doubt.  This,  they  report  as  but 
fifteen  or  twenty  days'  march  from  St.  Helena,  north-westward. 
It  will,  follow,  if  this  description  be  true,  that  we  are  quite  as 
near  to  this  place,  as  to  St.  Helena.  Here  is  adventure  and  a 
marvellous  discovery  open  to  us,  my  comrades  and  we  shall,  per- 
haps, in  future  days,  bless  the  cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  which  hath 


390  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

thus  driven  us  on  the  road  to  fortune.  At  least,  we  should  have 
reason  to  rejoice  that  we  are  here,  when  our  comrades  lie  stark 
and  bleeding  on  the  shores  of  Cannaverel.  We  are  few,  but  we  are 
true ;  we  have  health  and  vigor  ;  we  have  arms  in  our  hands,  and 
are  quite  equal  to  any  of  the  small  bands  of  Indians  that  infest 
the  country.  We  shall  seek  to  avoid  encounters  with  them,  but 
shall  not  fear  them  if  we  meet ;  and  all  that  I  have  seen  of  the 
red-man  inclines  me  to  the  faith,  that  they  who  deal  with  him 
justly  will  mostly  find  justice,  nay,  even  reverence  in  return. 
What  remains,  but  that  we  steadily  pursue  our  progress,  heedful 
where  we  set  our  feet,  keeping  our  minds  in  patience,  never 
hurrying  forward  blindly,  and  never  being  too  eager  in  the  attain- 
ment of  our  object.  Our  best  strength  will  lie  in  our  patience. 
This  will  save  us  when  our  strength  shall  fail." 

This  counsel  found  no  opposition.  There  was  much  discussion 
of  details,  and  the  leading  suggestion  of  his  mind  being  adopted, 
Erlach  readily  yielded  much  of  the  minutiae  to  others.  We  shall 
not  follow  the  daily  progress  of  our  adventurers.  Enough  that  for 
twenty-seven  days  they  travelled  without  suffering  disaster. 
There  were  small  ailments  of  the  party — some  grew  faint  and 
feeble,  others  became  slightly  lamed ;  and  occasionally  all  hearts 
drooped  ;  but  on  such  occasions  the  troop  went  into  camp,  chose 
out  some  secure  thicket,  built  themselves  a  goodly  fire,  and  while 
the  invalids  lay  around  it,  the  more  vigorous  hunted  and  brought 
in  game.  Wild  turkeys  were  in  abundance.  Sometimes  they 
roosted  at  night  upon  the  very  trees  under  which  our  Frenchmen 
slept.  On  such  occasions  the  hunters  rose  at  dawn,  and  with 
well-aimed  arquebuses  shot  down  two  or  more ;  the  very  fatness 
of  the  birds  being  such,  as  made  them  split  open  as  they  struck 
the  earth.  Anon,  a  wandering  deer  crossed  their  path,  and  fell  a 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  391 

victim  to  their  shot.  In  this  way  they  gradually  advanced  into 
the  hilly  country.  Very  seldom  had  they  met  with  any  of  the 
red-men,  and  never  in  any  numbers.  These  treated  them  with 
great  forbearance,  were  civil,  shared  with  them  their  slender 
stock  of  provisions,  and  received  a  return  in  trinkets,  knives,  or 
rings  of  copper,  and  little  bells,  a  small  store  of  which  had  been 
providentally  brought  by  persons  of  the  party.  Sometimes,  these 
Indians  travelled  with  them,  camped  with  them  at  night,  and  be- 
haved themselves  like  good  Christians.  From  these,  too,  they 
gathered  vague  intelligence  of  the  great  city  which  lay  among  the 
mountains.  This  was  described  to  them,  in  language  often  heard 
before,  as  containing  a  wealth  of  gold,  and  other  treasures  in  the 
shape  of  precious  gems,  which,  assuming  the  truth  of  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  the  red-men,  our  Frenchmen  assumed  to  be  nothing 
less  than  diamonds,  rubies  and  crystals.  But  they  were  told  that 
this  country  was  in  possession  of  a  very  powerful  people,  fierce 
and  warlike,  who  were  very  jealous  of  the  appearance  of  strangers. 
The  city  of  Grand  Copal  was  described  as  very  populous  and  rich, 
a  walled  town,  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  penetrate. 

These  descriptions  contributed  greatly  to  warm  the  imaginations 
of  our  Frenchmen,  but  as  the  several  informants  differed  in  regard 
to  the  direction  in  which  this  great  city  lay,  it  so  happened  that 
parties  began  to  be  formed  in  respect  to  the  route  which  should 
be  pursued.  Opinion  was  nearly  equally  divided  among  them. 
Alphonse  D'Erlach  was  for  pursuing  a  more  easterly  course  than 
was  desired  by  some  ten  or  more  of  the  party.  He  was  influenced 
by  information  previously  derived  from  the  Indians,  when  he  went 
into  the  territories  of  Olata  Utina,  and  beyond.  But  the  more 
recent  testimony  was  in  favor  of  the  west,  and  this  he  was  dis- 
posed to  disregard.  For  a  time,  the  discussion  led  to  nothing 


392  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

decisive.  His  authority  was  still  deferred  to  and  the  course  con- 
tinued upon  which  he  had  begun.  But  as  the  winter  began  to 
press  more  severely  upon  the-company,  and  as  their  usual  sup- 
plies of  game  began  to  diminish  from  the  moment  that  they  left 
the  lakes,  and  great  swampy  river  margin  of  the  flat  country,  from 
that  moment,  as  if  justified  by  suffering,  the  Frenchmen  lessened 
in  their  deference  to  a  leader  who  was  at  once  so  youthful  and  so 
imperative.  Alphonse  D'Erlach  beheld  these  symptoms  with 
apprehension  and  misgiving.  He  well  knew  how  frail  was  the 
tenure  by  which  he  held  his  authority,  from  the  moment  that 
self-esteem  began  to  be  active  in  the  formation  of  opinion.  He 
felt  that  a  power  for  coercion  was  wanting  to  his  authority,  and 
resorted  to  all  those  politic  arts  by  which  wise  men  maintain  a 
sway  without  asserting  it.  He  would  say  to  them : 

"  My  comrades,  there  are  but  twenty-two  of  us  in  a  world  of 
savages.  Hitherto,  for  more  than  thirty  days,  we  have  traversed 
the  wildernesses  in  safety.  This  is  solely  due  to  the  fact  that  we 
have  suffered  no  differences  to  prevail  among  us.  If  you  feel  that 
I  have  counselled  and  led  you  in  safety,  you  may  also  admit  that 
I  have  led  you  rightly ;  for  safety  has  been  our  first  object.  We 
are  as  fresh  and  vigorous  now,  as  when  we  left  the  dreary  plains  of 
Cannaverel.  Not  one  has  perished.  We  have  not  suffered  from 
want  of  food,  though  frequently  delayed  in  obtaining  it.  Me- 
thinks,  that  you  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  me.  But  if  there 
be  dissatisfaction  with  my  authority,  choose  another  leader.  Him 
will  I  obey  with  good  will ;  but  do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  dis- 
agree, lest  ye  separate,  and  all  parties  perish." 

This  rebuke  was  felt  and  had  its  effect  for  a  season  ;  but  when, 
after  a  week  of  farther  and  seemingly  unprofitable  wandering — 
when  they  had  attained  no  special  point — when  they  rather  con- 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  393 

tinued  to  skirt  the  mountains,  pressing  to  the  northward,  than  to 
ascend  them — the  spirit  of  discontent  was  re-awakened.  The  cir- 
cumstance which  rather  gratified  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  for  the 
present,  that  they  had  met  so  few  of  the  natives,  none  in  large 
numbers,  and  had  succeeded  mostly  in  avoiding  their  villages,  was 
the  circumstance  that  led  to  dissatisfaction  among  his  followers. 
They  were  eager  to  have  their  hopes  fortified  by  daily  or  nightly 
reports  from  those  who  might  be  supposed  to  know  ;  they  desired, 
above  all,  to  gather  constant  tidings  of  the  great  city  of  the  moun- 
tains— to  receive  intimations  of  its  proximity ;  and  this,  they  began 
to  assert,  was  impossible,  so  long  as  they  should  forbear  to  pene- 
trate the  mountains  themselves.  Against  this  desire  their  young 
leader  strove  for  many  reasons.  It  is  not  improbable  that  he 
himself  doubted  the  existence  of  the  marvellous  city  of  Grand 
Copal.  At  all  events,  he  well  knew  that  to  penetrate  the  moun- 
tains, during  winter,  which  already  promised  to  be  one  of  intense 
rigor,  would  subject  his  party  to  great  suffering,  and,  should  food 
fail  them  even  partially  in  the  unfriendly  solitudes,  would  termi- 
nate in  the  destruction  of  the  whole.  By  following  the  mountains, 
along  the  east  for  a  certain  distance,  he  knew  he  should  finally 
arrive  at  the  heads  of  the  streams  descending  to  the  sea  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  first  settlements  made  by  the  Huguenots ; 
that  he  should  there  find  friendly  and  familiar  nations,  and  per- 
haps secure  a  home  for  his  people,  and  found  a  new  community  in 
the  happy  territories  of  Iracana,  the  Eden  of  the  Indians,  of  the 
beautiful  and  loving  Queen,  whereof,  he  began  to  have  the  tender- 
est  recollections.  He  also  knew  that,  only  by  pursuing  his  way 
along  the  mountains,  aiming  at  this  object,  could  he  be  secure 
from  the  Spaniards  in  the  possession  of  La  Caroline,  as  well  as 
St.  Augustine,  who,  he  did  not  doubt,  were  already  preparing  for 


vho 
au- 

3rs. 


394  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

exploration  of  the  golden  territories  of  which  they  had  heard,  as 
well  as  the  French. 

But  his  arguments  failed  to  influence  the  impatient  people  un- 
der his  control.  Sharp  words  and  a  warm  controversy,  one  night, 
took  place  over  the  camp-fires,  and  led  to  a  division  of  the  party 
in  nearly  equal  numbers.  It  was  in  vain  that  Alphonse  D'Erlach 
and  his  brother  employed  all  their  arguments,  and  used  every  ap- 
peal, in  order  to  persuade  his  people  to  cling  together  as  the  only 
means  of  safety.  One  Le  Caille,  a  sergeant,  who  was  greatly 
endowed,  in  his  own  regards,  as  a  leader  among  men,  and  who 
had  enjoyed  some  experience  in  Indian  adventure  under  L 
donniere,  set  himself  in  direct  opposition  to  the  two  brothers. 
"  We  are  leaving  the  route,  entirely,  to  the  great  city.  We  are 
speeding  from  it  rather  than  towards.  It  lies  back  of  us  already, 
according  to  all  the  accounts  given  us,  and  as  we  march  now,  we 
seek  nothing.  There  is  our  path,  pointing  to  the  great  blue  sum- 
mist  in  the  north-west,  and  thither  should  we  turn,  if  we  seek  for 
the  Grand  Copal." 

He  found  believers  and  followers.  So  warm  had  grown  the 
controversy,  that  the  two  parties  separated  that  very  night,  and 
camped  apart,  each  having  its  own  fires.  The  greater  number, 
no  less  than  thirteen,  went  with  Le  Caille,  leaving  but  nine  to 
D'Erlach,  including  himself  and  brother.  The  young  leader 
brooder  over  the  disaster,  for  such  he  regarded  it,  in  silence.  He 
found  that  it  was  in  vain  that  he  should  argue,  solely  on  the 
strength  of  his  own  conjectures,  against  any  course  which  they 
should  take,  when  his  own  course,  though  maintaining  them  in 
health  and  safety,  had  failed  to  bring  them  to  any  of  the  ends 
which  they  most  desired.  They  were  now  wearied  of  wander- 
ing— they  craved  a  haven  where  they  might  rest  for  a  season ; 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  395 

and  were  quite  willing  to  listen  to  any  one  who  could  speak  with 
boldness  and  seeming  certainty  of  any  such  place.  Thus  it  was 
that  they  followed  Le  Caille. 

"  Let  us  at  least  separate  in  peace  and  good-fellowship,  mes 
camarades,"  said  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  passing  over,  with  the  dawn, 
to  that  side  of  the  thicket  where  the  others  had  made  their  camp. 
They  embraced  and  parted,  taking  separate  courses,  like  a  stream 
that  having  long  journeyed  through  a  wild  empire,  divides  at  last, 
only  to  lose  themselves  both  more  rapidly  in  the  embracing  sea. 

For  more  than  two  hours  had  they  gone  upon  their  different 
routes,  the  one  party  moving  straight  for  the  mountains,  the  other 
still  pursuing  the  route  along  their  bases,  in  the  direction  of  the 
east,  when  Alphonse  D'Erlach  said  to  his  brother  : 

"  It  grieves  me  that  these  men  should  perish :  they  will  perish 
of  cold  and  hunger,  and  by  violence  among  the  savages.  This 
man  Le  Caille  will  fight  bravely,  but  he  is  a  sorry  dolt  to  have  the 
conduct  of  brave  men.  Besides,  we  shall  all  perish  if  we  do  not 
keep  together.  Perhaps  it  is  better  that  we  should  err  in  our 
progress — go  wide  from  the  proper  track — than  that  we  should 
break  in  twain.  Let  us  retrace  our  steps — let  us  follow  them,  and 
unite  with  them  for  a  season,  at  least,  until  their  eyes  open  upon 
the  truth." 

He  spoke  to  willing  listeners.  His  followers  obeyed  him  through 
habit ;  they  acknowledged  the  authority  of  a  greater  will  and  a 
stronger  genius  ;  but  they  had  not  been  satisfied.  They,  too,  hun- 
gered secretly  for  the  great  city  and  the  place  of  rest,  and  were 
impatient  of  the  wearisome  progress,  day  by  day,  without  any  ul- 
timate object  in  their  eyes.  Cheerfully,  and  with  renewal  of  their 
strength,  did  they  turn  at  the  direction  of  their  leader,  and  push 
forward  to  re-unite  with  their  comrades.  They  had  a  wearisome 


396  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

distance  of  four  hours  to  overcome,  but  they  had  hopes  to  regain 
their  brethren  by  night,  as  they  knew  that  they  would  rest  two 
hours  at  noon  for  the  noonday  meal,  which,  it  was  resolved,  should 
not,  on  this  occasion,  delay  their  progress,  and  by  moving  with 
greater  speed  than  usual,  it  was  calculated  that  the  lost  ground 
might  be  recovered. 

Meanwhile,  the  party  of  Le  Caille  had  crossed  a  little  river 
which  they  had  to  wade.  The  depth  was  not  great,  reaching  only 
to  their  waists,  but  it  was  very  cold  and  it  chilled  them  through. 
They  halted  accordingly  on  the  opposite  side,  and  built  themselves 
a  fire.  Here  the  rest  taken  and  the  delay  were  unusually  long, 
and  contributed  somewhat  to  the  efforts  made  by  D'Erlach's  party 
to  overtake  them.  When,  after  a  pause  of  two  hours,  the  troop 
of  Le  Caille  was  prepared  again  to  move,  it  was  considerably  past 
the  time  of  noon.  As  they  gathered  up  their  traps,  one  of  their 
party  who  had  gone  aside  from  the  rest,  was  suddenly  confounded 
to  behold  a  red-man  start  up  from  the  bushes  where  he  had  been 
crouching,  in  long  and  curious  watch  over  their  proceedings. 
The  Frenchman,  who  was  named  Rotrou,  was  quite  delighted  at 
the  apparition,  since  they  eagerly  sought  to  gather  from  the  In- 
dians the  directions  for  their  future  progress,  and  none  had  been 
seen  for  many  days.  Rotrou  called  to  the  Indian  in  words  of 
good-nature  and  encouragement,  but  the  latter,  slapping  his  naked 
sides  with  an  air  of  defiance,  started  off  towards  the  mountains. 
Rotrou  again  shouted  ;  the  savage  turned  for  a  moment  and 
paused,  then  waving  his  hand  with  a  significant  gesture,  he  re- 
sponded with  the  war-whoop,  and  once  more  bounded  away  in 
flight.  The  rash  and  wanton  Frenchman  immediately  lifted  his 
arquebus e,  and  fired  upon  the  fugitive.  He  was  seen  to  stagger 
and  fall  upon  his  kneer  but  immediately  recovering  himself,  he  set 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  397 

off  almost  at  as  full  speed  as  ever,  making  for  a  little  thicket  that 
spread  itself  out  upon  the  right.  The  party  of  Le  Caille  by  this 
time  came  up.  They  penetrated  the  covert  where  the  red-man 
had  been  seen  to  shelter  himself,  and  for  a  while  they  tracked  him 
by  his  blood.  But  at  length  they  came  to  a  spot  where  he  had 
evidently  crouched  and  bound  up  his  hurts.  They  found  a  little 
puddle  of  blood  upon  the  spot,  and  some  fragments  of  tow,  moss, 
and  cotton  cloth,  some  of  which  had  been  used  for  the  purpose. 
Here  all  traces  of  the  wounded  man  failed  them  ;  and  they  resumed 
their  route,  greatly  regretting  that  he  should  have  escaped,  but 
greatly  encouraged,  as  they  fancied  that  they  were  approaching 
some  of  the  settlements  of  the  natives. 

It  was  probably  an  hour  after  this  event  when  D'Erlach  and 
his  party  reached  the  same  neighborhood,  and  found  the  proof  of 
the  rest  and  repast  which  that  of  Le  Caille  had  taken  on  the  banks 
of  the  little  river.  This  sight  urged  them  to  new  efforts,  and 
though  chilled  also  very  greatly  by  the  passage  of  the  stream,  they 
did  not  pause  in  their  pursuit,  but  pressed  forward  without  delay, 
having  the  fresh  tracks  of  their  brethren  before  their  eyes,  for  the 
guidance  of  their  footsteps.  It  was  well  they  did  so.  In  little 
more  than  an  hour  after  this,  while  still  urging  the  forced  march 
which  they  had  begun,  they  were  suddenly  arrested  by  a  wild 
and  fearful  cry  in  the  forests  beyond,  the  character  of  which  they 
but  too  well  knew,  from  frequent  and  fierce  experience.  It  was 
the  yell  of  the  savage,  the  terrible  war-whoop  of  the  Apalachian, 
that  sounded  suddenly  from  the  ambush,  as  the  rattle  of  the  snake 
is  heard  from  the  copse  in  which  he  makes  his  retreat.  Then 
followed  the  discharge  of  several  arquebuses,  four  or  five  in  num- 
ber, all  at  once,  and  soon  after  one  or  two  dropping  shots. 

"  Onward  !"  cried  Alphonse  D'Erlach ;  "  we  have  not  a  mo- 


398  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

ment  to  lose.  Our  comrades  are  in  danger  !  On  !  Fools  !  they 
have  delivered  nearly  or  quite  all  their  pieces ;  and  if  the  savage 
be  not  fled  in  terror,  they  are  at  the  mercy  of  his  arrows.  On- 
ward, my  brave  Gascons  !  Let  us  save  our  brethren." 

The  young  captain  led  the  advance,  but  though  pushing  for- 
ward with  all  industry,  he  did  not  forego  the  proper  precautions. 
His  men  were  already  taught  to  scatter  themselves,  Indian  fashion, 
through  the  forests,  and  at  little  intervals  to  pursue  a  parallel 
course  to  each  other,  so  as  to  lessen  the  chances  of  surprise,  and 
to  offer  as  small  a  mark  as  possible  to  the  shafts  of  the  enemy. 
The  shouts  and  clamor  increased.  They  could  distinguish  the 
cries  of  the  savages  from  those  of  the  Frenchmen.  Of  the  latter, 
theyfancied  they  could  tell  particular  voices  of  individuals.  They 
could  hear  the  flight  of  arrows,  and  sometimes  the  dull,  heavy 
sounds  of  blows  as  from  a  macana  or  a  clubbed  arquebuse  ;  and 
a  few  moments  sufficed  to  show  them  the  savages  darting  from 
tree  to  tree,  and  here  and  there  a  Frenchman  apparently  bewil- 
dered with  the  number  and  agile  movements  of  his  foes,  but  still 
resolute  to  seek  his  victim.  At  this  moment  Alphonse  D'Erlach 
stumbled  upon  a  wounded  man.  He  looked  down.  It  was  the 
Sergeant,  Le  Caille  himself.  He  was  stuck  full  of  arrows ;  more 
than  a  dozen  having  penetrated  his  body,  and  one  was  yet  quiver- 
ing in  his  cheek  just  below  his  eye.  Still  he  lived,  but  his  eyes 
were  glazing.  They  took  in  the  form  of  D'Erlach.  The  lips 
parted. 

"  Le  Grand  Copal,  Monsieur — eh  !"  was  all  he  said,  when  the 
death-rattle  followed.  He  gasped,  turned  over  with  a  single  con- 
vulsion, and  his  concern  ceased  wholly  for  that  golden  city,  in  the 
search  for  which  he  had  forgotten  every  other.  D'Erlach  gave 
but  a  moment's  heed  to  the  dying  man,  then  pushed  forward  for 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  399 

the  rescue  of  those  who  might  be  living.  They  were  surrounded 
by  more  than  fifty  savages,  and  among  these  were  scattered  groups 
of  women  and  even  children.  In  fact,  Le  Caille,  in  his  pursuit  of 
the  Indian  wounded  by  Rotrou,  had  happened  upon  a  village  of 
the  Apalachians. 

It  was  fortunate  for  D'Erlach  that  the  savages  were  quite  too 
busy  with  the  first,  to  be  conscious  of  the  second  party.  They 
had  been  brought  on  quietly,  and,  scattered  as  they  had  been  in 
the  approach,  they  were  enabled  to  deliver  their  fire  from  an  ex- 
tensive range  of  front.  It  appalled  the  Indians,  even  as  a  thunder 
burst  from  heaven.  They  had  gathered  around  the  few  French- 
men surviving  of  Le  Caille's  party,  and  were  prepared  to  finish 
their  work  with  hand-javelins  and  stone  hatchets.  The  French- 
men were  not  suffered  to  reload  their  pieces,  and  were  reduced  to 
the  necessity  of  using  them  as  clubs.  They  were  about  to  be 
overwhelmed  when  the  timely  fire  of  the  nine  pieces  of  D'Erlach 's 
party,  the  shout  and  the  rush  which  followed  it,  struck  death  and 
consternation  into  the  souls  of  their  assailants,  and  drove  them 
from  their  prey.  With  howls  of  fright  and  fury  the  red-men  fled 
to  deeper  thickets,  till  they  should  ascertain  the  nature  and  number 
of  their  new  enemies,  and  provide  themselves  with  fresh  weapons. 
But  D'Erlach  was  not  disposed  to  afford  them  respite.  His  pieces 
were  reloaded  ;  those  of  the  Frenchmen  of  Le  Caille — all  indeed 
who  were  able — joined  themselves  to  his  party,  and  the  Indians 
were  pressed  through  the  thicket  and  upon  their  village.  To  this 
they  fled  as  to  a  place  of  refuge.  Our  Frenchmen  stormed  it, 
fired  it  over  the  heads  of  the  inmates,  and  terrible  was  the  slaugh- 
ter which  followed.  The  object  of  D'Erlach  was  obtained.  He 
had  struck  such  a  panic  into  the  souls  of  the  savages,  that  he  was 
permitted  to  draw  off  his  people  without  molestation  ;  but  the  in- 


400  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

spection  of  the  fatal  field  into  which  the  rashness  of  Le  Cattle  had 
led  his  party,  left  D'Erlach  with  few  objects  of  consolation.  Seven 
of  them  were  slain  outright,  or  mortally  wounded  ;  three  others 
were  slightly  wounded,  and  but  three  remained  unhurt.  The 
survivors  were  brought  off  in  safety,  greatly  rejoicing  in  a  rescue 
so  totally  undeserved.  The  party  that  night  encamped  in  a  close 
wood,  in  a  spot  so  chosen  as  to  be  easily  guarded.  Two  of  the 
persons  mortally  wounded  in  the  conflict  died  that  night ;  the 
third,  next  day  at  noon.  They  were  not  abandoned  till  their 
cares  and  sufferings  were  at  an  end,  and  their  comrades  buried 
them,  piling  huge  stones  about  their  corses.  Repose  was  greatly 
wanting  to  the  party  ;  but  they  were  conscious  that  the  Indians 
were  about  them.  D'Erlach  knew  too  well  the  customs  of  the 
Apalachian  race  to  doubt  that  the  runners  had  already  sped,  east 
and  west,  bearing  le  baton  rouge — the  painted  club  of  red,  which 
summons  the  tribe  to  which  it  is  carried  to  send  its  young  vultures 
to  the  gathering  about  the  prey. 

He  sped  away  accordingly,  re-crossing  the  little  river  where 
the  party  of  Le  Cattle  had  encountered  the  Indian  spy,  and  press- 
ing forward  upon  the  route  which  he  had  been  before  pursuing. 
Day  and  'night  he  travelled  with  little  intermission,  in  the  en- 
deavor to  put  as  great  a  space  as  possible  between  his  band  and 
their  enemies.  But  the  toil  had  become  too  severe  for  his  people. 
They  began  to  falter,  and  were  finally  compelled  to  halt  for  a  rest 
of  two  or  more  days,  in  a  snug  and  pleasant  valley,  such  as  they 
could  easily  defend.  Here  they  suffered  several  disasters.  One 
of  his  men,  drying  some  gunpowder  before  the  fire,  it  exploded, 
and  he  was  so  dreadfully  burnt  that  he  survived  but  a  day,  and 
expired  in  great  agony.  Another,  who  went  out  after  game,  never 
returned.  He  probably  fell  a  victim  to  his  own  imprudence,  or 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  401 

sunk  under  the  arrows  of  some  prowling  savage.  The  camp  was 
broken  up  in  haste  and  apprehension,  and  the  march  resumed. 
Their  force  was  now  reduced  to  thirteen  men,  and  these  were  des- 
tined to  still  further  reduction.  The  cold  had  become  excessive. 
The  feet  of  the  Frenchmen  grew  sore  from  constant  exercise  ;  and 
at  length,  despairing  of  the  long  progress  still  before  them  before 
they  could  reach  the  sea,  Alphonse  D'Erlach  yielded  to  the  grow- 
ing desire  of  his  people  to  ascend  the  mountains  and  seek  a 
nearer  spot  of  refuge,  or  at  least  of  temporary  repose.  He  began 
to  give  ear  more  earnestly  to  the  story  of  the  great  city  of  the 
mountains  ;  or,  he  seemed  to  do  so.  At  all  events, — such  was 
the  suggestion— £we  can  shelter  ourselves  for  the  winter  in  some 
close  valley  of  the  hills ;  here  we  can  build  log  dwellings,  and 
supply  ourselves  with  game  as  hunters.'  The  Frenchmen  had  ac- 
quired sufficient  experience  of  Indian  habits  to  resort  to  their 
modes  of  meeting  the  exigencies  of  the  season. .  They  knew  what 
were  the  roots  which  might  be  bruised,  macerated,  and  made  into 
bread  ;  and  they  had  been  fed  on  acorns  more  than  once  by  the 
Floridian  savages.  They  began  the  painful  ascent,  accordingly, 
which  carried  them  up  the  heights  of  Apalachia,  that  mighty  chain 
of  towers  which  divide  the  continent  from  north  to  south.  They 
had  probably  reached  the  region  which  now  forms  the  upper 
country  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 

It  was  in  the  toilsome  ascent  of  these  precipitous  heights  that 
they  encountered  one  of  those  dangers  which  D'Erlach  had  striven 
so  earnestly  to  elude.  This  was  a  meeting  with  the  Indians,  in 
any  force.  A  body  of  more  than  forty  of  them  were  met  descend- 
ing one  of  the  gorges  up  which  the  Frenchmen  were  painfully 
making  their  way.  The  meeting  was  the  signal  for  the  strife. 
The  war-whoop  was  given  almost  in  the  moment  when  the  parties 


402  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

discovered  each  other.  The  Indians  had  the  superiority  as  well 
in  position  as  in  numbers;  being  on  an  elevation  considerably 
above  that  of  the  Frenchmen.  They  were  a  large,  fine-limbed 
race  of  savages,  clad  in  skins,  and  armed  with  bows  and  stone- 
hatchets.  They  had  probably  never  beheld  the  white  man  before, 
and  knew  nothing  of  his  fearful  weapons.  They  were  astounded 
by  the  explosion  of  the  arquebuse,  and  when  their  chief  tumbled 
from  the  cliff  on  which  he  stood,  stricken  by  an  invisible  bolt,  they 
fled  in  terror,  leaving  the  field  to  the  Frenchmen.  Butr  three  of 
the  latter  were  slain  in  the  conflict,  and  three  others  wounded. 
The  path  was  free  for  their  progress,  but  they  went  forward  with 
diminished  numbers,  and  sinking  hearts.  The  survivors  were  now 
but  ten,  and  these  were  hurt  and  suffering  from  sore,  if  not  fatal, 
injuries.  The  cold  increased.  The  savages  seemed  to  have 
housed  themselves  from  the  fury  of  the  winds,  that  rushed 
and  howled  along  the  bleak  terraces  to  which  the  Frenchmen  had 
arisen.  They  buried  themselves  in  a  valley  that  offered  them 
partial  protection,  built  their  fires,  raised  a  miserable  hovel  of  poles 
and  bushes  for  their  covering,  and  sent  out  their  hunters.  Two 
parties,  one  of  two,  the  other  of  three  men,  went  forth  in  pursuit 
of  a  bear  whose  tracks  they  had  detected  ;  leaving  five  to  keep  the 
camp,  three  of  whom  were  wounded  men.  Of  these  two  parties, 
one  returned  at  night,  bringing  home  a  turkey.  They  had  failed 
to  discover  the  hiding-place  of  the  bear.  The  other  did  not  re- 
appear all  night.  Trumpets  were  sounded  and  guns  fired  from 
the  camp  to  guide  their  footsteps,  but  without  success  ;  and  with 
the  dawn  Alphonse  D'Erlach  set  forth  with  his  brother  and  ano- 
ther, one  Philip  le  Borne,  to  seek  the  fugitives.  Their  tracks 
were  found  and  followed  for  a  weary  distance  ;  lost  and  again 
found.  Pursued  over  ridge  and  valley,  in  a  zigzag  and  ill-directed 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  403 

progress,  showing  that  the  lost  party  had  been  distracted  by  their 
apprehensions.  This  pursuit  led  the  hunters  greatly  from  the 
camp  ;  but  D'Erlaeh  had  made  his  observations  carefully  at  every 
step,  and  knew  well  that  he  could  regain  the  spot.  He  had  pro- 
vided himself  well  with  such  food  as  they  possessed,  and  his  little 
party  was  well  armed.  He  refused  to  discontinue  the  search, 
particularly  as  they  still  recovered  the  tracks  of  the  missing  men. 
For  two  days  they  searched  without  ceasing,  camping  by  night, 
and  crouching  in  the  shelter  of  some  friendly  rock  that  kept  off 
the  wind,  and  building  themselves  fires  which  guarded  their  slum- 
bers from  the  assaults  of  wolf  and  panther;  the  howls  of  the  one, 
and  the  screams  of  the  other,  sounding  ever  and  anon  within  their 
ears,  from  the  bald  rocks  which  overhung  the  camp.  On  the 
morning  of  the  third  day  the  fugitives  were  found,  close  together, 
and  stiffened  in  death.  They  had  evidently  perished  from  the 
cold. 

Very  sadly  did  the  D'Erlachs  return  with  their  one  companion 
to  the  camp  where  they  had  left  their  comrades.  But  their  gloom 
and  grief  were  not  to  suffer  diminution.  What  was  their  horror  to 
find  the  spot  wholly  deserted.  The  ashes  were  cold  where  they 
had  made  their  fires  :  the  probability  was  that  the  place  had  been 
fully  a  day  and  night  abandoned.  No  traces  of  the  Frenchmen 
were  left — not  a  clue  afforded  to  their  brethren  of  what  had  taken 
place.  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  however,  discovered  the  track  of  an 
Indian  moccasin  in  the  ashes,  but  he  carefully  obliterated  it  before 
it  was  beheld  by  his  companions.  It  was  apparent  to  him  that  his 
people  had  suffered  themselves  to  be  surprised  ;  but  whether  they 
had  been  butchered  or  led  into  captivity  was  beyond  his  conjec- 
ture. His  hope  that  they  still  lived  was  based  upon  the  absence 
of  all  proofs  of  struggle  or  of  sacrifice. 


404  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

To  linger  in  that  spot  was  impossible  ;  but  whithei  should  they 
direct  their  steps 

"  We  are  but  three,  now,  my  comrades,"  said  the  younger 
D'Erlach, — "  we  must  on  no  account  separate.  We  must  sleep 
and  hunt  together,  and  suffer  no  persuasions  to  part  us.  Let  us 
descend  from  this  inhospitable  mountain,  and,  crossing  the  stretch 
of  valley  which  spreads  below,  attempt  the  heights  opposite.  We 
may  there  find  more  certain  food,  and  better  protection  from  these 
bleak  winds." 

"  Better  that  we  had  perished  with  our  comrades,  under  the 
knife  of  Melendez,"  was  the  gloomy  speech  of  the  elder  D'Er- 
lach. 

"  It  is  always  soon  enough  to  die,"  replied  the  younger.  "  For 
shame,  my  brother ! — it  is  but  death,  at  the  worst,  which  awaits 
us.  Let  us  on !  " 

And  he  led  the  way  down  the  rugged  heights,  the  others  fol- 
lowing passively  and  in  moody  silence. 

They  crossed  the  valley,  through  which  a  river  went  foaming 
and  flashing  over  huge  rocks  and  boulders,  great  fractured  masses 
from  the  overhanging  cliffs,  that  seemed  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
world.  The  stream  was  shallow  though  wild ;  and  crossing  from 
rock  to  rock  they  made  their  way  over  without  much  trouble  or 
any  accident.  The  ascent  of  the  steep  heights  beyond  was  not 
so  easy.  Three  days  were  consumed  in  making  a  circuit,  and 
finding  a  tolerable  way  for  clambering  up  the  mountain.  Cold 
and  weary,  hungry  and  sick  at  heart,  the  elder  D'Erlach  and 
Philip  le  Borne,  were  ready  to  lie  down  and  yield  the  struggle. 
Despair  had  set  its  paralyzing  grasp  upon  their  hearts ;  but  the 
considerate  care,  the  cheerful  courage,  the  invigorating  suggestion, 
of  the  younger  D'Erlach,  still  sufficed  to  strengthen  them  for  re- 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  405 

newed  effort,  when  they  were  about  to  yield  to  fate.  He  adopted 
the  legend  of  the  great  city.  These  rocks  were  a  fitting  portal  to 
such  a  world  of  empire  and  treasure.  He  dwelt  with  emotion  upon 
its  supposed  wonders,  and  found  reasons  of  great  significance  for 
assuming  it  to  be  near  at  hand.  And  they  toiled  after  him  up  the 
terrible  heights,  momently  expecting  to  hear  him  cry  aloud  from 
the  summit  for  which  they  toiled — "  Eureka !  Here  is  the  Grand 
Copal !"  In  this  progress  the  younger  D'Erlach  was  always  the 
leader ;  Philip  le  Borne  struggled  after  him,  though  at  a  long  dis- 
tance, and,  more  feeble  than  either,  the  elder  D'Erlach  brought  up 
the  rear.  Alphonse  had  nearly  reached  the  bald  height  to  which 
he  was  climbing,  when  a  fearful  cry  assailed  him  from  behind.  He 
looked  about  instantly,  only  in  time  to  see  the  form  of  le  Borne 
disappear  from  the  cliff,  plunging  headlong  into  the  chasm  a  thou- 
sand feet  below.  The  victim  was  too  terrified  to  cry.  Life  was 
probably  extinguished  long  before  his  limbs  were  crushed  out  of 
all  humanity  amongst  the  jagged  masses  of  the  fractured  rocks 
which  received  them.  The  cry  was  from  the  elder  D'Erlach.  He 
saw  the  dreadful  spectacle  at  full ;  beheld  his  companion  shoot 
suddenly  down  beside  him,  with  outstretched  arms,  as  if  imploring 
the  succor  for  which  he  had  no  voice  to  cry.  He  saw,  and,  over- 
come with  horror,  sank  down  in  a  convulsion  upon  the  narrow 
ledge  which  barely  sufficed  to  sustain  his  person.  Alphonse 
D'Erlach  darted  down  to  his  succor,  and  clung  to  him  till  he  had 
revived. 

"  Where  is  Philip  ?"  demanded  the  elder  brother. 

"  We  are  all  that  remain,  my  brother,"  was  the  reply. 

The  other  covered  his  eyes  with  his  hands,  as  if  to  shut  out 
thought ;  and  it  was  some  time  before  he  could  be  persuaded  to 
re-attempt  the  ascent.  Alphonse  clung  to  his  side  as  he  did  so  j 


406  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

never  suffered  him  to  be  beyond  reach  of  his  arm,  and,  after 
several  hours  of  the  greatest  toil,  succeeded  in  placing  him  safely 
upon  the  broad  summit  of  the  mountain.  And  what  a  prospect 
had  they  obtained — what  a  world  of  wonder,  of  beauty  and  sub- 
limity— fertile  realms  of  forest ;  boundless  valleys  of  verdure  ; 
illimitable  seas  of  mountain  range,  their  billowy  tops  rolling  onward 
and  onward,  till  the  eye  lost  them  in  the  misty  vapors  of  the  sea 
of  sky  beyond. 

But  the  eyes  of  our  adventurers  were  not  sensible  to  the  sub- 
limity and  beauty  o^  the  scene.  They  beheld  nothing  but  its 
wildness,  its  stillness,  its  coldness,  its  loneliness,  its  dread  and 
dreary  solitude. 

"  We  are  but  two,  my  brother,  two  of  all,"  said  the  elder  D'Er- 
lach.  "  Let  us  die  together,  my  brother." 

"  If  fate  so  pleases,"  was  the  reply — "  well !  But  let  us  hope 
that  we  may  live  together  yet." 

"  I  am  done  with  hope.  I  am  too  weary  for  hope.  My  heart 
is  frozen.  I  see  nothing  but  death,  and  in  death  I  see  something 
very  sweet  in  the  slumber  which  it  promises.  Why  should  we 
live  ?  It  is  but  a  prolongation  of  the  struggle.  Let  us  die.  Oh  ! 
Alphonse,  your  life  is  not  less  precious  to  me  than  mine  own.  I 
would  freely  give  mine,  at  any  moment,  to  render  yours  more  safe ; 
yet,  if  you  agree,  my  hand  shall  strike  the  dagger  into  your  heart, 
if  yours  will  do  for  mine  the  same  friendly  office." 

"No  more,  my  brother  !  Let  us  not  speak  or  think  after  this 
fashion.  Our  frail  and  feeble  bodies  are  forever  grudgeful  of  the 
authority  which  our  souls  exercise  upon  them.  If  they  are  weary, 
they  would  escape  from  weariness,  at  sacrifices  of  which  they 
know  not  the  extent ;  would  they  sleep,  they  are  not  unwilling 
that  the  sleep  should  be  death,  so  that  they  may  have  respite  from 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  407 

toil.  My  brother,  I  will  not  suffer  my  body  so  to  sway  my  soul  if 
I  can  help  it.  I  will  still  live,  and  still  toil,  and  still  struggle 
onward,  and  when  I  perish  it  shall  be  with  my  foot  advanced,  my 
hand  raised,  and  my  eye  guiding,  in  the  progress  onward — forever 
onward.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  think  of  death  when  death 
grapples  us  and  there  is  no  help.  But,  till  that  moment,  I  mock 
and  defy  the  tempter,  who  would  persuade  me  to  rest  before  my 
limbs  are  weary  and  my  strength  is  gone." 

"  But,  Alphonse,  my  limbs  are  weary,  and  my  strength  is 
gone." 

"  Let  your  heart  be  strong  ;  keep  your  soul  from  weariness,  and 
your  limbs  will  receive  strength.  Sleep,  brother,  under  the  shel- 
ter of  this  great  rock,  while  I  kindle  fire  at  your  feet,  and  pre- 
pare something  for  you  to  eat." 

And  while  the  elder  brother  slept,  the  other  watched  and 
warmed  him,  and  some  shreds  of  meat  dried  in  the  sun,  and  a 
slender  supply  of  meal  corns,  parched  by  the  fire,  with  a  vessel 
of  water,  was  prepared  and  ready  for  him  at  awakening. 

But  he  awakened  in  no  better  hope  than  when  he  had  laid 
down.  He  ate  and  was  not  strengthened.  The  hope  had  gone 
out  from  his  heart,  the  fire  from  his  eye,  his  soul  lacked  the 
cheerful  vigor  necessary  to  exertion,  and  his  physical  strength 
was  nearly  exhausted. 

"Would  that  I  had  not  awakened!"  was  his  mournful  ex- 
clamation, as  his  eyes  opened  once  more  to  the  dreary  prospect 
from  the  bald  eminence  of  that  desolate  mountain-tower.  "  Would 
that  I  might  close  mine  eyes  and  sleep,  my  brother,  sleep  ever, 
or  awake  to  consciousness  only  in  a  better  world." 

"  This  world  is  ours,  my  brother,"  responded  the  younger,  im- 
petuously ;  and,  if  we  are  men,  if  we  had  no  misgivings — if  we 


408  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

could  feel  only  as  we  might — that  the  weariness  of  this  day  would 
find  a  wing  to-morrow  j  we  should  conquer  it,  and  bo  worthy  of 
better  worlds  hereafter.  But  he  who  gives  himself  up  to  weari- 
ness, will  neither  find  nor  deserve  a  wing.  Thou  hast  eaten — thou 
hast  drunken, — thou  shouldst  be  refreshed.  I  have  neither  eaten 
nor  drunken,  since  we  set  off  at  dawn  this  morning  for  our  progress 
across  the  valley." 

"  Keproach  me  nol,  Alphonse,"  replied  the  other  ;  "  thou  hast 
a  strength  and  a  courage  both  denied  to  me." 

"  Believe  it  not ;  be  resolute  in  thy  courage,  and  thy  strength 
will  follow.  It  is  the  heart,  verily,  that  is  the  first  to  fail." 

"  Mine  is  dead  within  me  !" 

"  Yet  another  effort,  mon  frere, — yet  one  more  effort !  The 
valley  below  us  looks  soft  and  inviting.  There  shall  we  find 
shelter  from  the  bleak  winds  that  sweep  these  bald  summits." 

"It  is  cold  !  and  my  limbs  stiffen  beneath  me,"  answered  the 
other,  as  he  rose  slowly  to  resume  a  march  which  was  more  pain- 
ful to  his  thoughts  than  any  which  he  had  of  death.  But  for  his 
deference  to  the  superior  will  of  the  younger  brother,  he  had 
surely  never  risen  from  the  spot.  But  he  rose,  and  wearily  fol- 
lowed after  the  bold  Alphonse,  who  was  already  picking  his  way 
down  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain. 


We  need  not  follow  the  brothers  through"  the  painful  details  of 
a  progress  which  had  few  varieties  to  break  its  monotony,  and 
nothing  to  relieve  its  gloom.  Two  days  have  made  a  wonderful 
difference  in  the  appearance  of  both.  Wild,  stern  and  wretched" 
enough  before  in  aspect,  there  was  now  a  grim,  gaunt,  wolf-like 
expression  in  the  features  of  Alphonse  D'Erlach,  which  showed 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  409 

that  privation  and  labor  were  working  fearfully  upon  the  mind  as 
well  as  the  body.  He  was  emaciated — his  eyes  sunken  and  glossy, 
staring  intensely  yet  without  expression — his  hair  matted  upon 
his  brows,  and  his  movements  rather  convulsive  than  energetic. 
His  soul  was  as  strong  as  ever — his  will  as  inflexible ;  but  the 
tension  of  the  mind  had  been  too  great,  and  nature  was  beginning 
to  fail  in  the  support  of  this  rigor.  He  now  strove  but  little  in 
the  work  of  soothing  and  cheering  his  less  courageous  brother. 
He  had  no  longer  a  voice  of  encouragement,  and  he  evidently  be- 
gan to  think  that  the  death  for  which  the  other  had  so  much 
yearned  would  perhaps  be  no  unwelcome  visitor.  Still,  as  if  the 
maxims  which  we  have  heard  him  utter  were  a  portion  of  his  real 
nature,  his  cry  was  forever  "  On,"  and  still  his  hand  was  out- 
stretched towards  blue  summits  that  seemed  to  hide  another  world 
in  the  gulfs  beyond  them. 

"  I  can  go  no  farther,  Alphonse.  I  will  go  no  farther.  The 
struggle  is  worse  than  any  death.  I  feel  that  I  must  sleep.  I 
feel  that  sleep  would  be  sweeter  than  anything  you  can  promise." 

"  If  you  sleep,  you  die." 

"  I  shall  rejoice  !" 

"  You  must  not,  brother.     I  will  help  you.    .1  will  carry  you." 

He  made  the  effort  as  he  spoke — for  a  moment  raised  up  the 
failing  form  of  his  brother-— staggered  forward,  and  sank  himself 
beneath  the  burden. 

"  Ha  !  ha  !"  he  laughed  hoarsely  ;  "  that  we  should  fail  with 
the  Golden  Copal  in  sight !  But  if  we  rest,  we  shall  recover.  Let 
us  rest.  Let  us  kindle  here  a  fire,  my  brother,  for  my  limbs  feel 
cold  also." 

"  It  is  death,  Alphonse." 

"  Death  !    Pshaw  !     We  cannot  fail  now ;  now  that  we  are 
18 


410  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

nearly  at  the  summit.  I  tell  you,  brother,  we  are  almost  at  the 
portals  of  that  wondrous  city.  Once  I  doubted  there  were  such 
city,  but  I  have  seen  glimpses  of  towers,  and  methought  but  now 
I  beheld  the  window  in  a  turret  from  which  a  fair  woman  was 
looking  forth.  See  now !  Look  you  to  the  right — there  where 
you  see  the  mountain  sink  as  it  were,  then  suddenly  rise  again,  the 
slopes  leading  gently  up  to  a  tower  and  a  wall.  The  evening 
sunlight  rests  upon  it.  You  see  it  is  of  a  dusky  white,  and  the 
window  shows  clearly  through  the  stone,  and  some  one  moves 
within  it.  Dost  thou  see,  my  brother  ?" 

"  I  see  nothing  but  the  sky  and  ocean.  It  is  the  waters  that 
roll  about  us." 

"  It  is  the  winds  that  you  hear,  as  they  sweep  down  from  yonder 
mountains.  But  where  I  point  your  eyes  is  certainly  a  tower,  a 
great  castle — no  doubt  one  that  commands  the  ascent  to  the 
mountains." 

"  Brother,  this  is  so  sweet !" 

"  What  ?" 

"  Ah !  what  a  blessed  fortune  !  Escaped  from  the  bloody 
Spaniard,  afar  from  the  inhospitable  land  of  the  Floridian,  to  see 
once  more  these  sweet  waters  and  the  well-known  places." 

"  What  waters  ?    What  places  ?" 

"  Do  you  know  them  not — our  own  Seine  and  the  cottage,  Al- 

phonse  ?    Ha !  ha !  there  they  are  !     I  knew  they  would  come 

.  forth.     Old  Ulrich  leads  them  ;  and  Bertha  is  there,  and  brings 

little  Etienne  by  the  hand.     And,  ah  '  ha !  ha !     Joy,  mother, 

we  are  come  again  !" 

"  He  dreams  !  he  dreams  !  If  thus  he  dies,  with  such  a  dream, 
there  can  be  no  pain  in  it.  Let  him  dream  !  let  him  dream  !" 

And  Alphonse  D'Erlach  hastened  to  kindle  the  flames,  and  he 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  411 

tore  from  his  own  body  the  garment  to  warm  his  dying  brother  ; 
and  he  clasped  his  hands  convulsively  as  he  listened  to  the  faint 
and  broken  words  that  fell  from  his  lips,  subsiding  at  last  into, 

"  Mother,  we  are  come  !" 

And  then  he  lay  speechless.  The  younger  brother  turned 
away,  and  looked  yearningly  to  the  mountains. 

"  If  I  can  only  reach  yon  castle,  he  should  be  saved.  It  is  not 
so  far  !  but  this  valley  to  cross — but  that  low  range  of  rocks  to 
overcome.  It  shall  be  done.  I  will  but  cover  him  warmly  with 
leaves  and  throw  fresh  brands  upon  the  fire,  and  before  night  I 
shall  return  with  help." 

And  he  did  as  he  said.  He  threw  fresh  brands  upon  the  fire  ; 
he  wrapped  the  senseless  form  of  his  brother  in  leaves  and  moss ; 
and, stooping  down,  grasped  his  hand  and  printed  a  long,  last  kiss 
upon  his  lips.  The  eyes  of  the  dying  man  opened,  but  they  were 
fixed  and  glassy.  But  Alphonse  saw  not  the  look.  His  own 
eyes  were  upon  the  castellated  mountain.  He  sped  away,  feebly 
but  eagerly,  and  as  he  descended  into  the  valley,  he  looked  back 
ever  and  anon  ;  and  as  he  looked,  his  voice,  almost  in  whispers, 
would  repeat  the  words — "  Keep  in  heart,  brother.  I  will  bring 
you  help  ;"  and  thus  he  sped  from  the  scene. 


The  day  waned  rapidly,  but  still  the  young  Alphonse  sped  upon 
his  mission.  He  crossed  the  plain  ;  he  urged  his  progress  up  the 
ridgy  masses  that  formed  the  foreground  to  the  great  cliffs  from 
which  the  castled  towers  still  appeared  to  loom  forth  upon  his 
sight.  He  cast  a  momentary  glance  upon  the  sun,  wan,  sinking 
with  a  misty  halo  among  the  tops  of  the  great  sea-like  mountains 


412  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

that  rolled  their  blue  and  billowy  summits  in  the  east,  circum- 
scribing his  vision,  and  he  murmured — 

"  I  shall  be  in  time.  Do  not  despair,  my  brother.  I  will  soon 
be  with  you  and  bring  you  succor." 

And  thus  he  ascended  the  stony  ridges,  height  upon  height  gra- 
dually ascending,  till  he  came  to  a  sudden  gorge — a  chasm  rent  by 
earthquake  and  convulsion  from  the  bosom  of  the  great  mountain 
for  which  he  sped.  He  looked  down  upon  the  gorge,  and  as  he 
descended,  he  turned  his  eye  to  the  lone  plateau  upon  which  his 
brother  had  been  laid  to  dream,  and  cried  : 

"  I  go  from  your  eyes,  my  brother,  but  I  go  to  bring  you  help." 

And  he  passed  with  tottering  steps,  and  a  feebleness  still  in- 
creasing, but  which  his  sovereign  will  was  loth  to  acknowledge, 
down  into  the  chasm,  and  was  suddenly  lost  from  sight. 


Scarcely  had  he  thus  passed  into  the  great  shadow  of  the  gorge, 
when  the  howl  of  wolves  awakened  the  echoes  of  the  valley  over 
which  he  had  gone.  And  soon  they  appeared,  five  in  number, 
trotting  over  the  ground  which  he  had  traversed,  and,  with  their 
noses  momently  set  to  earth,  sending  up  an  occasional  cry  which 
announced  the  satisfaction  of  their  scent.  Now  they  ascend  the 
stony  ridges.  For  a  moment  they  halt  and  gather  upon  the  verge 
of  the  great  chasm  ;  then  they  scramble  down  into  its  hollows,  and 
howling  as  they  go  and  jostling  in  the  narrow  gorges,  they  too 
pass  from  sight  into  the  obscurity  of  the  mountain  shadows. 


Another  spectacle  follows  in  their  place.     Sudden,  along  the 
rocky  ledges  of  the  high  precipices  which  overhang  the  gorge, 


ALPHONSE  D'ERLACH.  413 

darts  forth  a  graceful  and  commanding  form.  It  is  a  woman  that 
appears,  young  and  majestic,  lofty  in  carriage,  yet  winning  in  as- 
pect. She  belongs  to  the  red  races  of  the  Apalachian,  but  she  is 
fairest  among  her  people.  The  skin  of  a  panther  forms  her 
mantle,  and  her  garments  are  of  cotton,  richly  stained.  She  car- 
ries a  bow  in  her  hand,  and  a  quiver  at  her  back.  Her  brows  are 
encircled  by  a  tiara  of  crimson  cotton,  from  which  arise  the  long 
white  plumes  of  the  heron.  She  claps  her  hands,  and  cries  aloud 
to  others  still  in  the  shadows  of  the  mountain.  They  dart  out  to 
join  her,  a  group  of  graceful-looking  women  and  of  lofty  and  vi- 
gorous men.  She  points  to  the  gorge  beyond,  and  fits  an  arrow 
to  her  bow.  The  warriors  do  likewise,  and  her  shaft  speeds  upon 
its  mission  of  death,  shot  down  amidst  the  shadows  of  the  gorge. 
A  cry  of  pain  from  the  w%lf, — another  and  another,  as  the  several 
shafts  of  the  warriors  speed  in  the  same  direction.  Then  one  of 
the  warriors  hurls  a  blazing  torch  into  the  abyss,  and  the  wounded 
wolves  speed  back  through  the  gorges,  and  the  hunters  dart  after 
them  with  shafts,  and  blazing  torches,  and  keen  pursuit.  Mean- 
while, the  Apalachian  princess  descends  the  precipice  with  foot- 
steps wondrous  sure  and  fast.  Her  damsels  follow  her  with  cries 
of  eagerness,  and  soon  they  disappear — all  save  the  hunters,  who 
pursue  the  wolves  with  well-aimed  darts,  till  they  fall  howling  one 
by  one,  and  perish  in  their  tracks.  Then  the  warriors  scalp  their 
prey  and  turn  back,  pass  through  the  gorge,  and  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  their  princess.  The  sun  sinks,  the  night  closes  upon 
the  valley,  and  all  is  silent. 


txxv. 

N/VN/WX/X/WX/NS* 

DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES. 

1. EARLY     HISTORY     OP     GOURGUES. 

THE  tidings  of  the  fearful  massacre  of  the  Huguenots  in 
Florida,  as  well  in  Spanish,  as  in  French  accounts,  at  length 
reached  France.  Deep  was  the  feeling  of  horror  and  indignation 
which  they  everywhere  excited  among  the  people.  Catholics,  not 
less  than  Protestants,  felt  how  terrible  was  the  cruelty  thus  in- 
flicted upon  humanity,  how  insolent  the  scorn  thus  put  upon  the 
flag  of  the  country.  Wild  and  bitter  was  the  cry  of  anguish  sent 
up  by  the  thousand  bereaved  widows  and  orphans  of  the  murdered 
men.  But  this  cry,  this  feeling,  this  sense  of  suffering  and  shame, 
awakened  no  sympathies  in  the  court  of  France.  The  king, 
Charles  IX.,  heard  the  "  supplication"  of  the  wives  and  children 
of  the  sufferers,  without  according  any  answer  to  their  prayer. 
The  blood  of  nearly  nine  hundred  victims  cried  equally  to  earth 
and  heaven  for  vengeance,  and  cried  in  vain  to  the  earthly  sove- 
reign. He  had  no  ear  for  the  sorrows  and  the  wrongs  of  heresy  ; 
and  the  plaint  of  humanity  was  stifled  in  the  supposed  interests  of 
religion.  Charles  was  most  regally  indifferent  to  a  crime  which 
relieved  him  of  so  many  troublesome  subjects  ;  and  was  at  that 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUE8.  415 

very  time,  meditating  the  most  summary  processes  for  still  farther 
diminishing  their  numbers.  He  was  yet  to  provide  an  appropri- 
ate finish  to  such  a  history  of  massacre  in  the  bloody  tragedy  of 
St.  Bartholomew.  The  wrong  done  to  the  honor  of  his  flag  and 
nation,  by  a  rival  power,  was  not  felt.  We  have  already  hinted 
the  strong  conjecture,  urged  by  historians,  that  the  Spanish  expe- 
dition, under  Melendez,was  planned  with  the  full  privity  and  con- 
currence of  the  king  of  France.  His  conduct,  at  this  period, 
would  seem  fully  to  justify  the  suspicion.  His  existing  relations 
with  his  brother  of  Spain  were  not  of  a  sort  to  be  periled  now 
by  the  exhibition  of  his  sympathies  with  a  cause,  and  on  behalf  of 
a  sect,  which  both  monarchs  had  reason  to  hate  and  fear',  and  were 
preparing  to  extirpate. 

But,  if  the  Court  of  France  demanded  no  redress  for  the 
massacre  of  its  people,  and  that  of  Spain  offered  none,  either  re- 
dress or  apology,  there  was  yet  a  deep  and  intense  passion  dwell- 
ing in  the  heart  of  the  one  nation,  and  yearning  for  revenge  upon 
that  of  the  other.  There  was  still  a  chivalrous  feeling  in  France 
which  showed  itself  superior  to  the  exactions  of  sect  or  party,  and 
which  brooded  with  terrible  intensity  over  the  bloody  fortunes  of 
the  French  in  Florida.  This  moody  meditation  at  length  found 
its  fitting  exponent.  The  sentiment  that  stirs  earnestly  in  the 
popular  heart  will  always,  sooner  or  later,  obtain  a  fitting  voice ; 
and  where  it  burns  justifiably  for  vengeance,  it  will  not  long  be 
wanting  in  a  weapon.  The  avenger  arose  in  due  season  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  justice  ! 


The  Chevalier,  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  was  a  Gascon  gentle- 
man, born  at  Mont  de  Marsan,  in  the  County  of  Cominges.     His 


416  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

family  was  one  of  considerable  distinction.  It  had  always  been 
devotedly  attached  to  the  Catholic  religion,  nor  had  he  ever  for  a 
moment  faltered  in  the  same  faith.  His  career  had  been  a  re- 
markable one,  signalized  by  great  valor,  and  the  most  extreme 
vicissitudes  of  fortune.  He  had  served  in  the  armies  of  France 
during  the  long  and  capricious  struggles  in  Italy,  which  had  been 
the  chief  arena  for  conflict  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  the  Eighth,  of 
Louis  XII.,  of  Francis  the  First,  and  down  to  the  present  period. 
Here  he  had  associated,  under  the  command  of  Brissac  and  others, 
with  that  valiant  brother  Gascon,  Blaize  de  Montluc,  who,  in  his 
commentaries,  would  probably  have  told  us  much  about  the 
prowess  of  Gourgues,  if  he  had  not  been  so  greatly  occupied  with 
the  narrative  of  his  own.*  But  the  forbearance  of  Montluc  has 
not  deprived  us  of  all  the  testimony  which  belongs  to  the  fame 

#  The  Chevalier  de  Gourgues  is  only  twice  mentioned,  but  both  times 
with  favor,  in  the  chronicles  of  Montluc.  The  instances  occur  in  Italy, 
in  1556  ;  one  of  which  describes  the  capture  of  Gourgues,  the  other  his 
rescue  from  captivity.  "  La  il  fut  prius  douze  ou  quatorze  chevaux  legers  de 
ma  compagnie,  dont  le  Capitaine  Gourgues,  qui  estoit  a  la  suite  deStrassi,  estoit 
du  nombre,"  fyc.  Montluc  was  not  the  Gascon  to  leave  his  people  in  cap- 
tivity. He  prepares  to  scale  the  fort  in  which  they  are  confined,  and, 
his  attempt  begun,  Gourgues  was  Gascon  enough  to  help  himself.  The 
Spaniards  had  a  guard  of  eighteen  or  twenty  men  over  their  prisoners, 
who  were  sixty  or  eighty  in  number,  the  latter  being  tied  in  pairs,  to 
make  them  more  secure.  As  soon  as  the  prisoners  heard  the  cry  of 
**  France,  France  /"  from  their  friends  without,  they  began  the  struggle 
within — "  Us  commencerent  a  se  secouer  les  uns  et  les  autres,  et  mesmes  le  Capi- 
taine Gourgues,  qui  se  deslia  le  premier,"  etc.  The  prisoners,  led  by  Gourgues, 
assail  their  guards  with  naked  arms,  wrest  from  them  their  weapons,  and 
where  these  are  wanting,  employ  paving  stones,  actually  killing  the  great- 
er number,  and  taking  the  rest  captive.  Such  was  the  success  of  the 
surprise,  and  the  spirit  which  they  displayed. 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  417 

of  the  chevalier.  Of  all  the  subaltern  officers  of  his  time,  no  one 
achieved  a  more  brilliant  reputation.  Among  the  Gascons,  con- 
fessedly distinguished  above  all  others  by  their  reckless  daring, 
and  headlong  eagerness  after  glory  in  battle,  the  courage  of 
Grourgues  was  such  as  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  a  hero  of  romance. 
His  youthful  eyes  had  opened  upon  the  latest  fields  of  that  race  of 
heroes  of  whom  Bayard  was  the  superior  and  perhaps  the  last.  He 
was  one  of  the  Sampsons  of  that  wondrous  band,  whose  wars,  ac- 
cording to  Trivulcio — one  not  the  least  remarkable  among  them, 
— were  those  of  the  giants;— the  Swiss,  in  the  fullest  vigor  of  their 
martial  fame,  and  at  the  height  of  their  insolence  ; — the  Spaniards, 
with  Hernan  de  Cordova,  the  great  captain,  at  their  head,  and 
crowning  the  career  of  Charles  Y.  with  a  power  and  a  lustre 
which  his  own  merits  did  not  deserve ; — the  Italians,  under  the 
sway  of,  and  deriving  their  spirit  from,  the  fierce  martial  pontiff, 
Julius  II.,  and  the  French,  boasting  of  a  cavalry,  headed  by 
Bayard,  La  Palisse  and  others,  worthy  of  such  associates,  and  such 
as  the  armies  of  Europe  had  never  beheld  before.  Montluc,  who 
had  been  trained  in  part  in  the  same  house  with  Bayard,  and 
Boiteres,  who,  as  a  page  of  the  knight  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche, 
makes  a  famous  figure  in  the  chronicles  of  le  loyal  serviteur,  being 
among  the  leaders  whom  the  Chevalier  de  G-ourgues  followed  into 
battle.  He  partook  of  their  spirit,  and  proved  himself  worthy  to 
sustain  the  declining  honors  of  chivalry.  But  his  fortunes  were 
as  adverse  as  his  merits  were  distinguished.  With  thirty  men, 
near  Sienna,  in  Tuscany,  he  sustained,  for  a  long  time,  the  shock 
of  a  large  division  of  the  Spanish  army.  He  saw,  at  length,  every 
man  of  his  command  fall  around  him,  and,  was  made  a  prisoner. 
The  captive  of  the  Spaniard,  in  that  day,  when  the  emperor  of 
the  country  and  his  favorite  generals  showed  themselves  utterly 
18* 


418  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

and  equally  insensible  to  good  faith  and  generosity,  was  to  be  a 
slave.  They  conducted  war  with  little  regard  to  the  rules  that 
prevailed  among  civilized  nations.  The  valor  that  G-orgues  dis- 
played, instead  of  commending  him  to  their  admiration  and  favor, 
only  provoked  their  fury ;  and  fhey  punished,  with  shameful  bonds, 
those  brave  actions  which  the  noble  heart  prefers  to  applause  and 
honor.  Gourgues  was  transferred  in  chains  to  the  gallies.  In  this 
degrading  condition,  chained  to  the  oar,  he  was  captured  by  the 
Turks  off  the  coast  of  Sicily ;  the  Turks  then  being  in  alliance,  to 
the  shame  of  Christendom,  with  the  French  monarch,  and  against 
the  Spaniards.  He  was  conducted  by  his  new  captors  to  Rhodes 
and  thence  to  Constantinople.  Sent  once  more  to  sea,  under  his 
new  master,  he  was  retaken  by  a  Maltese  galley,  and  thus  re- 
covered his  liberty.  But  his  latter  adventures  had  given  him  a 
taste  for  the  sea.  His  progresses  brought  him  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  to  Brazil,  and,  according  to  Lescarbot,  though  the  point  is 
doubted,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  details  of  this  career  are  not 
given  to  us,  but  the  results  seem  to  have  been  equally  creditable 
to  the  fame,  and  of  benefit  to  the  fortunes  of  our  chevalier.  He 
returned  to  Mont  de  Marsan,  with  the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  most  able  and  hardy  of  all  the  navigators  of  his  tune.  He 
had  scarcely  established  himself  fairly  hi  his  ancient  home,  where 
he  had  invested  all  the  fruits  of  his  toils  and  enterprise,  when  the 
tidings  came  of  the  capture  of  La  Caroline,  and  the  massacre  of 
the  French  in  Florida  by  Melendez.  He  felt  for  the  honor  of 
France,  for  the  grief  of  the  widows  and  orphans  thus  cruelly 
bereaved,  and  was  keenly  reminded  of  that  brutal  nature  of  the 
Spaniard,  under  which  he  had  himself  suffered  so  long,  and  in  a 
condition  so  humiliating  to  a  noble  spirit.  He  had  his  own  wrongs 
and  those  of  his  country  to  avenge.  He  brooded  over  the  neces- 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  419 

sity  before  him,  with  a  passion  that  acquired  new  strength 
from  contemplation,  and  finally  resolved  never  to  give  himself  rest 
till  he  had  exacted  full  atonement,  in  the  blood  of  the  usurpers  in 
Florida,  for  the  crime  of  which  they  had  been  guilty  to  his  people 
and  himself. 


II. 

BLAIZE   DE   MONTLUC. 

THIS  sublime  purpose— sublime  by  reason  of  the  intense  indi- 
viduality which  it  betrayed — the  proud,  strong  and  defiant  will, 
which  took  no  counsel  from  the  natural  fears  of  the  subject,  and 
was  totally  unrebuked  by  the  placid  indifference  of  the  sovereign  to 
his  own  duties-was  not,  however,  to  be  indulged  openly;  but  was 
compelled,  by  force  of  circumstances  j  the  better  to  effect  its 
object — to  subdue  itself  to  the  eye,  to  cloak  its  real  purposes,  to 
suffer  not  the  nearest  or  best  friend  to  conceive  the  intense  design 
which  was  working  in  the  soul  of  the  hero.  We  have  seen  that 
the  Marechal,  Blaize  de  Montluc,  a  very  celebrated  warrior,  a 
very  brave  fellow,  an  accomplished  leader  and  a  good  man, 
though  a  monstrous  braggart — the  very  embodiment  of  Gascon 
self-esteem,  had  long  been  a  personal  friend  of  the  Chevalier  de 
Gourgues.  Montluc  was  the  king's  lieutenant  in  Guyenne,  and 
to  him  De  Gourgues  proceeded  to  obtain  his  commission  for  sailing 
upon  the  high  seas.  Montluc,  like  himself,  was  a  Catholic  ;  but, 
unlike  de  Gourgues,  was  a  bitter  hater  of  the  Huguenots.  Our 
chevalier  had  been  too  long  a  prisoner  with  Spaniard  and  Turk — 
too  long  a  cruiser  upon  lonely  oceans,  confined  to  a  little  world 
which  knew  and  cared  nothing  for  sects  and  parties,  to  feel  very 
acutely  as  a  politician  in  matters  of  religion.  Such  a  life  as  that 


420  THE   L'lLY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

which  he  had  so  long  led,  was  well  calculated  to  conduce  to  tolera- 
tion. "  Vengeance  is  mine  :"  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  he  was  very 
willing  to  believe  that  in  his  own  good  time,  the  Lord  will  do  him- 
Belf  justice  upon  the  offender.  He  was  no  hater  of  Calvin  or  the 
Protestants — was  quite  willing  that  they  should  pray  and  preach 
after  the  desires  of  their  own  hearts ;  and  did  by  no  means  sym- 
pathise with  his  friend,  Montluc,  in  regard  to  the  heretics  whom 
he  denounced.  But  he  said  nothing  of  this  to  the  MarechaL  He 
knew  that  nothing  could  be  said  safely,  in  relation  to  this  vexing 
struggle,  which  tore  the  bowels  of  the  nation  with  perpetual 
strifes.  He  had  been  taught  policy  by  painful  experience  ;  and, 
though  boiling  with  intense  excitement,  could  conceal  the  secret 
flame  with  an  exterior  of  snow,  such  as  shrouds  the  top  of  the 
burning  Orizaba.  He  found  the  old  knight  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
degree  of  repose,  which  was  no  ways  desirable  to  one  of  his  char- 
acter. The  man  of  whom  the  epitaph  records — written  by  him- 
self:— 

*c  Cy  dessous  reposent  les  os 
De  Montluc,  qui  n'eut  one  repos.* 

was  not  the  person  to  feel  grateful  in  the  possession  of  an  office 
which  gave  no  exercise  to  his  restless  and  martial  propensities. 
"  We  are  shelved,  mon  ami^  he  said  with  a  grim  smile  to 
De  Gourgues,  as  they  sat  together  in  the  warm  chamber  of  the 
speaker : — "  We  are  shelved.  We  are  under  petticoat  govern- 
ment. Lords  and  rulers  are  now  made  by  the  pretty  women  of 
the  Court,  and  an  old  soldier  like  myself,  who  has  saved  the 
monarchy,  as  you  know,  a  dozen  times,  has  nothing  now  to  do  but 
to  hang  up  his  armor,  and  watch  it  while  it  falls  to  pieces  with 
the  rust.  But  I  have  made  myself  a  name  which  is  famous 
throughout  Europe,  and  for  the  opportunity  to  do  this,  I  must 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  421 

needs  be  grateful  to  my  king.  I  have  the  lieutenancy  of  Guy- 
enne,  but  how  long  I  am  to  have  it  is  the  question.  There  are 
others  who  hunger  after  the  shoes  I  wear ;  but  whether  they  will 
fit  so  well  upon  the  feet  of  Monsieur,  the  Marquis  de  Villars, 
must  be  for  other  eyes  to  determine.  All  I  know,  is,  that  I  am 
laid  up  forever.  Strength  fails,  and  favor  fails,  and  I  chafe  at 
my  own  lack  of  strength.  I  shall  never  be  happy  so  long  as  my 
knees  refuse  to  bend  as  I  would  mount  horse,  yet  bend  even  too 
freely  when  I  would  speed  on  foot.  But  what  is  this  expedition 
for  which  you  desire  the  royal  seal  ?  Certainly,  we  Gascons  are 
the  most  restless  of  all  God's  creatures.  Here  now  are  you  but 
just  arrived  at  home,  and  beginning  to  make  merry  with  your 
friends,  and  here  you  are,  all  at  once,  impatient  to  be  upon  the 
seas  again.  Well,  you  have  won  a  great  fame  upon  the  ocean, 
and  naturally  desire  to  win  still  more.  P  faith,  I  feel  a  great 
desire  to  keep  you  company.  I  would  be  at  work  to  the  last, 
still  doing,  still  conquering,  and  dying  in  the  greatest  of  my  vic- 
tories. What  says  the  Italian — c  Un  lei  mourir,  tutta  la  vita 
onora  /'  Did  this  adventure  of  yours,  Monsieur,  but  promise  a 
great  battle,  verily,  I  should  like  to  share  it  with  you." 

"  Ah !  Monsieur,  my  friend,  your  passion  is  no  longer  mine, 
though  I  am  too  much  of  the  Gascon  still,  to  fail,  at  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  to  prick  mine  ears.  But  this  adventure  tells  for 
fortune  rather  than  fame.  I  find  no  fame  a  specific  against 
famine.  I  would  seek  now  after  those  wordly  goods  which  neither 
of  us  looked  to  find  in  the  wars  with  the  Spaniard.  And  for 
which  reason,  failing  to  find,  we  are  in  danger  now  of  being  put 
aside  by  ladies'  minions,  and  the  feathered  creatures  of  the  Court. 
There  is  great  gain  now  to  be  won  by  a  visit  to  the  Coast  of 


422  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Benin,  in  Africa,  whence  we  carry  the  negro  cannibal,  that  he 
may  be  made  a  Christian  by  proper  labor  under  Christian  rule." 

And  De  Gourgues  proceeded  to  unfold  the  history  of  the  traffic 
in  slaves,  as  it  was  carried  on  by  all  nations  at  that  period ;  its 
marvellous  profit  and  no  less  marvellous  benefits  to  the  untutored 
and  miserable  heathen.  The  Marechal  listened  with  great  edifi- 
cation. 

"  Ah !  Monsieur,  were  I  now  what  you  knew  me  when  we 
fought  in  Tuscany,  now  nearly  thirty  years  ago  !  But  it  is  too 
late.  I  must  ever  remain  what  I  am,  a  poor  Gascon,  as  my  sove- 
reign hath  ever  known  me  ;  too  heedful  of  his  fortune  ever  to  give 
proper  tendance  to  my  own !" 


III. 

GOURGUES    AT    SEA. 

THE  Chevalier  de  Gourgues  received  his  commission,  and  his 
preparations  for  the.  expedition  were  at  once  begun.  He  con- 
verted his  goods  and  chattels  into  money — his  lands  and  movea- 
bles.  He  sold  everything  that  he  possessed.  Nor  did  he  rest 
here.  He  borrowed  of  friends  and  neighbors.  His  credit  was 
good — his  reputation  great — himself  beloved.  It  was  easy  to 
inspire  confidence  in  the  ostensible  objects  of  his  expedition. 
The  world  then  conceived  very  differently  of  the  morals  of  such 
an  enterprise,  than  it  does  at  present.  The  moneys  thus  realized 
were  employed  in  arming  two  roberges,  or  brigantines, — ships  of 
light  burthen,  resembling  the  Spanish  caravels ;  and  one  patache, 
or  tender,  a  vessel  modelled  after  the  frigate  of  the  Levant,  and 
designed  for  penetrating  shallow  harbors.  One  hundred  and  fifty 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUE8.  423 

soldiers,  and  eighty  sailors,  formed  his  complement  of  men,  of 
whom  one  hundred  were  armed  with  the  cross-how.  There  were 
many  gentlemen,  volunteers,  in  the  expedition  ;  and  De  Gourgues 
had  taken  the  precaution  to  secure  the  services  of  one  who  had 
been  a  trumpeter  under  Laudonniere,  and  had  made  his  escape 
with  that  commander.  Provisions  for  a  year  were  laid  in ;  and 
every  preparation  having  been  made,  and  every  precaution  taken, 
as  well  with  the  view  to  secrecy,  as  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
object,  the  squadron  sailed  for  Bordeaux,  on  the  second  day  of 
August,  1567,  just  two  years  after  the  flight  of  Laudonniere  from 
Florida.  But  the  fates,  at  first,  did  not  seem  to  smile  upon  the 
enterprise.  Baffled  by  contrary  winds,  our  chevalier  was  at 
length  driven  for  shelter  into  the  Charente,  where  he  lay  till  the 
twenty-second,  when  he  put  to  sea,  only  to  encounter  new  disap- 
pointments. His  ships  were  separated  by  a  severe  tempest,  and 
some  time  elapsed  before  they  were  re-united.  He  had  provided 
against  this  event  by  ordering  his  rendezvous  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rio  del  OrOj  upon  the  coast  of  Africa.  From  this  point  he 
ranged  the  coast  down  to  Cape  Blanco,  where,  instigated  by  the 
Portuguese,  he  was  assailed  by  three  African  chiefs,  with  their 
naked  savages,  whom  he  beat  off  in  two  actions.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded and  continued  in  safety  upon  his  route,  until  he  reached 
Cape  Verd,  when  he  turned  his  prows  suddenly  in  the  direction 
of  America.  The  first  land  which  he  made  in  this  progress  was 
Dominica,  one  of  the  smaller  Antilles ;  thence  he  drew  on  to 
Porto  Rico,  and  next  to  Mona ;  the  cacique  of  which  place  sup- 
plied him  liberally  with  fresh  provisions.  Stretching  away  for 
the  continent,  he  encountered  a  tempest,  which  constrained  him 
to  seek  shelter  in  the  port  of  San  Nicholas,  on  the  west  side  of 
Hispaniola,  where  he  repaired  his  vessels,  greatly  shattered  by 


424  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  storm,  but  where  he  vainly  endeavored  to  lay  in  new  supplies 
of  bread ;  his  biscuit  having  been  mostly  damaged  by  the  same 
cause  ; — the  Spaniards,  with  great  inhospitality,  refusing  him  all 
supplies  of  food.  Scarcely  had  he  left  San  Nicholas,  when  he 
was  encountered  by  a  hurricane,  which  drove  him  upon  the 
coast,  exposing  him  to  the  most  imminent  peril,  and  from  the 
danger  of  which  he  escaped  with  great  difficulty ;  he  gained,  after 
many  hardships,  the  west  side  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and  found 
temporary  respite  at  Cape  San  Antonio,  where  he  went  on  shore 
for  a  season. 


IV. 

GOURGUES    DECLARES     HIS     PURPOSE    TO     HIS     FOLLOWERS,   IN     A 

SPEECH. 

His  worst  dangers  of  the  sea  were  over.  He  was  now  within 
two  hundred  leagues  of  Florida,  his  prows  looking,  with  unob- 
structed vision,  directly  towards  the  enemies  he  sought.  And 
now,  for  the  first  time,  he  deemed  it  proper  to  unfold  to  his  peo- 
ple the  true  object  of  the  expedition.  He  assembled  together  all 
his  followers : 

"  Friend's  and  comrades,"  he  said,  "  I  have  hitherto  deceived 
you  as  to  my  objects.  They  were  of  a  sort  to  require,  in  the  dis- 
tracted condition  of  our  country,  the  utmost  secrecy.  It  so  hap- 
pens that  France,  torn  by  rival  religious  factions,  is  not  properly 
sensible  of  what  is  due  to  her  honor  and  her  people.  I  have 
chosen  you,  as  persons  whom  I  mostly  know,  as  persons  who  know 
me,  and  have  confidence  in  my  courage,  my  honor,  and  my  judg- 
ment. I  have  chosen  you  to  achieve  a  great  work  for  the  honor 
of  the  French  name,  and  for  the  safety  of  the  French  people. 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUE8.  425 

Though  we  quarrel  and  fight  among  ourselves  at  home,  yet  should 
it  be  a  common  cause,  without  distinction  of  party,  to  protect  our 
people  against  the  foreign  enemy,  and  to  avenge  the  cruelties  they 
have  been  made  to  suffer.  It  is  for  a  purpose  of  this  nature,  that 
I  have  brought  you  hither.  I  have  heard  many  of  you  speak 
with  tears  and  rage  of  the  great  crime  of  which  the  Spaniards, 
under  Melendez,  have  been  guilty,  in  butchering  our  unhappy 
countrymen  in  Florida  ;  nine  hundred  widows  and  orphans  have 
cried  in  vain  for  vengeance  upon  the  cruel  murderers.  You  know 
all  this  terrible  history — you  are  Frenchmen  and  brethren  of  these 
unfortunate  victims.  You  know  the  crime  of  our  enemies,  the 
Spaniards ;  always  our  enemies,  and  never  more  so  than  when  they 
profess  peace  to  us,  and  speak  with  smiles.  What  should  be  our 
crime,  if  we  suffer  them  to  escape  just  punishment  for  their 
butchery ;  if,  with  the  means  of  vengeance  in  our  hands,  and  our 
enemies  before  us,  we  longer  delay  the  hour  of  retribution  ?  We 
must  avenge  the  murder  of  our  countrymen  ;  we  must  make  the 
Spaniards  of  Florida  atone,  in  blood,  for  the  shame  and  affront 
which  they  have  put  upon  the  lilies  of  France  !  If  you  feel  as  I 
do,  the  day  of  vengeance  and  just  judgment  is  at  hand.  That  I 
am  resolute  in  this  object — that  it  fills  my  whole  soul  with  but 
one  feeling — my  whole  mind  with  but  one  thought — you  may 
know,  when  you  see  that  I  have  sold  all  my  wordly  goods,  all  the 
possessions  that  I  have  on  earth,  in  order  to  obtain  the  means  for 
the  destruction  of  these  Spaniards  of  Florida.  I  take  for  granted 
that  you  feel  with  me,  that  you  are  as  jealous  of  the  honor  of 
your  country  as  myself,  and  that  you  are  prepared  for  any  sacri- 
fice— life  itself — in  this  cause,  at  once  so  glorious,  and  so  neces- 
sary to  the  fame  and  safety  of  our  people.  If  our  Frenchmen 
are  to  be  butchered  without  a  cause,  and  find  no  avenger,  there  is 


426  THE   LILY    AND   THE   TOTEM. 

an  end  of  the  French  name,  and  honor,  and  well-being  ;  they  will 
find  no  refuge  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Speak,  then,  my  com- 
rades. Let  me  hear  that  you  feel  and  think  and  will  resolve  with 
me.  I  ask  you  to  do  notning,  and  to  peril  nothing,  beyond  my- 
self I  have  already  staked  all  my  worldly  fortunes  on  this  one 
object.  I  now  offer  to  march  at  your  head,  to  give  you  the  first 
example  of  self-sacrifice.  Is  there  one  of  you  who  will  refuse  to 
follow  ?" 

A  speech  so  utterly  unexpected,  at  first  took  his  followers  by 
surprise  ;  but  the  appeal  was  too  grateful  to  their  real  sympathies, 
their  commander  too  much  beloved,  and  the  infusion  of  genuine 
Gascons  too  large  among  the  adventurers,  to  make  them  hesitate 
in  their  decision.  They  felt  the  justice  of  the  appeal ;  were 
warmed  to  indignation  by  the  sense  of  injury  and  discredit  cast 
upon  the  honor  and  the  arms  of  France ;  and,  soon  recovering 
from  their  astonishment,  they  eagerly  pledged  themselves  to  fol- 
low wherever  he  should  lead.  With  cries  of  enthusiasm  they  de- 
clared themselves  ready  for  the  work  of  vengeance ;  and,  taking 
them  in  the  humor  which  he  had  inspired,  De  Gourgues  suffered 
not  a  moment's  unnecessary  delay  to  interfere  with  his  progress. 
Crowding  all  sail  upon  his  vessels,  he  rapidly  crossed  the  straits  of 
Bahama,  and  stretched,  with  easy  course,  along  the  low  shores  of 
the  Floridian. 


V. 

GOURGUES  WELCOMED   BY   THE   FLORIDIANS. 

IT  was  not  very  long  before  his  vessels  drew  in  sight  of  one  of 
the  Forts  of  the  Spaniards,  situated  at  the  entrance  of  May  River. 
So  little  did  they  apprehend  the  approach  of  any  French  armament, 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  427 

that  they  saluted  that  of  De  Gourgues,  as  if  they  had  been  ships  of 
their  own  nation,  mistaking  them  as  such.  Our  chevalier  en- 
couraged then-  mistake.  He  answered  their  salute,  gun  for  gun ; 
but  he  passed  onward  without  any  intercourse,  and  the  night  fol- 
lowing entered  the  river,  called  by  the  Indians  Tacatacourou,  but 
to  which  the  French  had  given  the  name  of  the  Seine,  some  fifteen 
leagues  distant. 

Here,  confounding  the  strangers  with  the  Spaniards,  a  for- 
midable host  of  Indians  were  prepared  to  give  them  battle.  Tho 
red-men  had  by  this  time  fully  experienced  the  tender  mercies  of 
then-  brutal  and  bigoted  neighbors ;  and  had  learned  to  contrast 
them  unfavorably  with  what  they  remembered  of  the  Frenchmen 
under  Ribault  and  Laudonniere.  With  all  the  faults  of  the  latter, 
they  knew  him  really  as  a  gentle  and  moderate  commander ;  by 
no  means  blood-thirsty,  and  doing  nothing  in  mere  lust  of  power, 
wantonly,  and  with  a  spirit  of  malicious  provocation  only.  There 
were  also  other  influences  at  work  among  them,  by  which  to  im- 
press them  favorably  towards  the  French,  and  make  them  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  usurpers  by  whom  they  had  been  destroyed.  It 
needed,  therefore,  only  that  Gourgues  should  make  himself 
known  to  the  natives,  to  discover  their  hostility.  He  employed  for 
this  purpose  his  trumpeter,  who  had  served  under  Laudonniere, 
and  was  well  known  to  the  king,  Satouriova,  whose  province  lay 
along  the  waters  of  the  Tacatacourou,  and  with  whose  tribe  it  was 
the  good  fortune  of  our  Frenchmen  to  encounter.  Satouriova, 
knew  the  trumpeter  at  once,  and  received  him  graciously.  He 
soon  revealed  the  existing  relations  between  the  red-men  and  the 
Spaniards,  and  was  delighted  when  assured  that  the  Frenchmen 
had  come  to  renew  and  brighten  the  ancient  chain  of  friendship 
which  had  bound  the  red-men  in  amity  with  the  people  of  La 


428  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Caroline.  The  interview  was  full  of  compliment  and  good  feeling 
on  both  sides.  The  next  day  was  designated  for  a  grand  con- 
ference between  Satouriova  and  Gourgues.  The  interview  opened 
with  a  wild  and  picturesque  display,  which,  on  the  part  of  the  In- 
dians, loses  nothing  of  its  dignity  because  of  its  rudeness.  The 
stern  and  simple  manners  of  the  red-men,  their  deliberation,  their 
forbearance,  the  calm  which  overspreads  their  assemblies,  the 
stately  solemnity  with  which  the  orator  rises  to  address  them,  their 
patient  attention  ;  these  are  ordinary  characteristics,  which  make 
the  spectator  forgetful  of  their  poverty,  their  rude  condition,  the 
inferiority  of  their  weapons,  and  the  ridiculous  simplicity  of  their 
ornaments.  Satouriova  anticipated  the  objects  of  Grourgues.  Be- 
fore the  latter  could  detail  his  designs,  the  savage  declared  his 
deadly  hatred  of  the  Spaniards.  He  was  already  assembling  his 
people  for  their  destruction.  They  should  have  no  foothold  on  his 
territories  ! 

All  this  was  spoken  with  great  vivacity  ;  and  he  proceeded  to 
give  a  long  history  of  the  wrongs  done  to  his  people  by  the 
usurpers.  He  recurred,  then,  to  the  terrible  destruction  of  the 
Frenchmen  at  La  Caroline,  and  at  the  Bay  of  Matanzas  ;  and  vo- 
luntarily pledged  himself,  with  all  his  powers,  to  aid  Grourgues  in 
the  contemplated  work  of  vengeance. 

The  response  of  our  chevalier  was  easy.  He  accepted  the 
pledges  of  Satouriova  with  delight.  He  had  not  come,  he  said, 
with  any  present  design  to  assail  the  Spaniards,  but  rather 
with  the  view  to  renew  the  ancient  alliance  of  the  Frenchmen  with 
the  Floridians ;  and,  should  he  find  them  in  the  proper  temper  to 
rise  against  the  usurpers,  then,  to  bring  with  him  an  armament 
sufficiently  powerful  to  rid  the  country  of  the  intruders.  But,  as 
he  found  Satouriova  in  such  excellent  spirit,  and  filled  with  so 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUE9.  429 

brave  a  resolution,  he  was  determined,  even  with  the  small  force 
at  his  command,  to  second  the  chief  in  his  desires  to  rid  himself 
of  his  bad  neighbors. 

"  Do  you  but  join  your  forces  to  mine, — bring  all  your  strength 
— put  forth  all  your  resolution — show  your  best  valor,  and  be 
faithful  to  your  pledges,  and  I  promise  you  that  we  will  destroy 
the  Spaniards,  and  root  them  out  of  your  country  !" 

The  Cassique  was  charmed  with  this  discourse,  and  a  league, 
offensive  and  defensive,  was  readily  agreed  upon  between  the 
parties.  Satouriova,  at  the  close  of  the  conference,  brought  for- 
ward and  presented  to  Gourgues  a  French  boy,  named  Pierre  de 
Bre,  who  had  sought  refuge  with  him  when  La  Caroline  was 
taken,  and  whom  he  had  preserved  with  care,  as  his  own  son,  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Spaniards  to  get  him  into  their  power. 
The  boy  was  a  grateful  gift  to  G-ourgues  ;  useful  as  an  interpreter, 
but  particularly  grateful  as  one  of  the  first  fruits  of  his  mission. 
That  night  Satouriova  despatched  a  score  or  more  of  emissaries, 
in  as  many  different  directions,  to  the  tribes  of  the  interior. 
These,  each,  bore  in  his  hands  the  war-macana,  le  Baton 
Rouge,  the  painted  red-club,  which  announces  to  the  young  war- 
riors the  will  of  their  superior.  The  runner  speeds  with  this  sign 
of  blood  to  the  distant  village,  strikes  the  war-post  in  its  centre, 
waves  his  potent  sign  to  the  people,  declares  the  place  of  gather- 
ing, and  darts  away  to  spread  still  more  the  tidings.  "When  he 
faints,  the  emblem  is  seized  by  another,  who  continues  on  the  route. 
In  this  way,  the  whole  nation  is  aroused,  as  by  the  sudden  flaming 
of  a  thousand  mountain  beacons.  A  single  night  will  suffice  to 
alarm  and  assemble  the  people  of  an  immense  territory.  The  In- 
dian runner,  day  by  day,  will  out-travel  any  horse.  The  result  of 
this  expedition  was  visible  next  day,  to  Gourgues  and  his  people. 


430  THE   LILY   AND   THE   TOTEM. 

The  chiefs  of  a  score  of  scattered  tribes,  with  all  their  best  war- 
riors, were  assembled  with  Satouriova,  to  welcome  the  Frenchmen 
to  the  land. 


VI. 

OLOTOCARA. 

SATOURIOVA,  surrounded  by  his  kinsmen,  his  allies,  and  subor- 
dinate chiefs,  appeared  in  all  his  state  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
almost  with  the  rising  of  the  sun.  There  were,  in  immediate  at- 
tendance, the  Paracoussies  or  Cassiques.  Tacatacourou — whose 
tribe,  living  along  its  banks  for  the  time,  gave  the  name  to  the 
river — Helmacana,  Athoree,  Harpaha,  Helmacape,  Helicopile, 
Mollova,  and  a  great  many  others.  We  preserve  these  names 
with  the  hope  that  they  may  help  to  conduct  the  future  antiquary 
to  the  places  of  then*  habitation.  Being  all  assembled,  all  in  their 
dignities,  each  with  his  little  band  of  warriors,  numbering  from 
ten  to  two  hundred  men,  they  despatched  a  special  message  to  the 
vessels  of  Grourgues,  inviting  him  to  appear  among  them.  By  a 
precautionary  arrangement  the  escort  of  our  chevalier  appeared 
without  their  weapons,  those  of  the  red-men  being  likewise  removed 
from  their  persons,  and  concealed  in  the  neighboring  woods. 
Gourgues  yielded  himself  without  scruple  to  the  arrangements  of  his 
tawny  host.  He  was  conducted  by  a  deferential  escort  to  the  mossy 
wood  where  the  chiefs  had  assembled,  and  placed  at  the  right  hand 
of  Satouriova.  The  weeds  and  brambles  had  been  carefully  pulled 
away  from  the  spot — the  place  had  been  made  very  clean,  and  the 
seat  provided  for  Grourgues  was  raised,  like  that  of  Satouriova,  and 
nicely  strewn,  in  the  same  manner,  with  a  mossy  covering.  With 
his  trumpeter  and  Pierre  de  Bre,  the  captain  of  the  French 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUE8.  431 

found  no  embarrassment  in  pursuing  the  conference.  It  was 
protracted  for  some  time,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  Indian  trea- 
ties, and  involved  many  considerations  highly  important  to  the  en 
terprise ;  the  number  of  the  Spaniards,  the  condition  of  their 
fortresses,  then*  vigilance,  and  all  points  essential  to  be  known, 
before  venturing  to  assail  them.  Much  time  was  consumed  in 
mutual  courtesies.  Gifts  were  exchanged  between  the  parties ;  De 
Gourgues  receiving  from  Satouriova,  among  other  things,  a  chain  of 
silver,  which  the  red  chief  graciously  and  with  regal  air  cast  about 
the  neck  of  the  chevalier. 

It  was  while  the  conference  thus  proceeded,  that  a  cry  without 
was  heard  from  among  the  great  body  of  the  tribes  assembled. 
Shouts  full  of  enthusiasm  announced  the  approach  of  a  favorite  ; 
and  soon  the  Frenchmen  distinguished  the  words,  "  Holata  Cara !" 
"  Holata  Cara  !"*  which  we  may  translate,  "  Beloved  Chief  or 

*  The  name  is  usually  written  Olotocara ;  but,  to  persons  familiar  with 
the  singular  degree  of  carelessness  with  which  the  Indian  names  were 
taken  down  by  the  old  voyagers  and  chroniclers,  and  the  different  modes 
employed  by  French,  Spanish  and  English  in  spelling  the  same  words, 
there  should  be  nothing  arbitrary  in  their  orthography  ;  nothing  to  induce 
us  to  surrender  our  privilege  of  seeking  to  reconcile  these  names  with  well- 
known  analogies.  My  opinion  is,  that  Olotocara  was  a  compound  of  two 
words,  the  one  signifying  chief  or  ruler,  the  other  indicative  of  the  degree 
of  esteem  or  affection  with  which  he  was  regarded,  or  as  significant  of  his 
qualities.  Olata,  or  Holata,  was  a  frequent  title  of  distinction  among  the 
Floridians,  and  Holata  Cara,  or  Beloved  Chief  or  Warrior,  is  probably  the 
true  orthography  of  the  words  compounded  into  Olotocara  or  Olocotora. 
It  may  have  been  Olata  Tacara,  and  there  may  have  been  some  identifica- 
tion of  this  chief  with  him  from  whom  the  river  Tacatacourou  took  its 
name.  Charlevoix  writes  it  Olocotora ;  Hakluyt,  Olotocara.  It  will  be 
eeen  that  our  method  of  writing  the  name  makes  it  easy  to  reconcile  it 
with  that  of  Hakluyt— Olotocara— Holata  Cara— and  with  that  of  the  title 


432  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Captain,"  and  which  preceded  the  sudden  entrance  of  a  warrior, 
the  appearance  of  whom  caused  an  instantaneous  emotion  of  sur- 
prise in  the  minds  of  the  Frenchmen. 

The  stranger  was  fair  enough  to  be  a  Frenchman  himself.  His 
complexion  was  wonderfully  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  other 
chiefs,  and  there  was  a  something  in  his  bearing  and  carriage,  and 
the  expression  of  his  countenance,  which  irresistibly  impressed 
De  Gourgues  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  gazing  upon  one  of 
his  own  countrymen.  The  features  of  the  stranger  were  smooth 
as  well  as  fair,  and  in  this,  indeed,  he  rather  resembled  the 
race  of  red  than  of  white  men.  But  he  was  evidently  very  young, 
yet  of  a  grave,  saturnine  cast  of  face,  such  as  would  denote  equally 
middle  age  and  much  experience,  and  yet  was  evidently  the  result 
of  temperament.  His  hair,  the  portion  that  was  seen,  was  short, 
as  if  kept  carefully  clipped  ;  but  he  wore  around  his  brows  several 
thick  folds  of  crimson  cotton,  in  fashion  not  greatly  unlike  that  of 
the  Turk.  There  were  many  of  the  chiefs  who  wore  a  similar 
head-dress,  though  whence  the  manufacture  came,  our  Frenchmen 
had  no  way  to  determine.  A  cotton  shirt,  with  a  falling  cape  and 
fringe  reaching  below  to  his  knees,  belted  about  the  waist  with  a 
strip  of  crimson,  like  that  which  bound  his  head,  formed  the 
chief  items  of  his  costume.  Like  the  warriors  generally,  he  wore 
well-tanned  buckskin  leggings,  terminating  in  moccasins  of  the 
same  material.  He  carried  a  lance  in  his  grasp,  while  a  light 
macana  was  suspended  from  his  shoulders. 

familiar  to  the  Floridian  usage,  past  and  present.  Thus  Olata  Utina  oc- 
curs before  in  this  very  chronicle ;  and  no  prefix  is  more  common  in  mo- 
dern times,  among  the  Seminoles,  than  that  of  Holata;  thus,  Holata 
Amathla,  Holata  Fiscico,  Holata  Mico.  It  is  also  used  as  an  appendage  ; 
thus,  Wokse  Holata,  as  we  write  Esquire  after  the  name. 

'  'jf^ 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  433 

"  Holata  Cara  !"  said  Satouriova,  as  if  introducing  the  stranger 
to  the  Frenchmen,  the  moment  that  he  appeared,  and  the  young 
chief  was  motioned  to  a  seat.  In  a  whisper  to  the  trumpeter, 
G-ourgues  asked  if  he  knew  anything  about  this  warrior ;  but  the 
trumpeter  looked  bewildered. 

"  Such  a  chief  was  not  known  to  us,"  said  he,  "  in  the  time  of 
Laudomriere." 

"  He  looks  for  all  the  world  like  a  Frenchman,"  murmured 
Gourgues. 

"  He  reminds  me,"  continued  the  trumpeter,  "  of  a'face  that  I 
have  seen  and  know,  Monsieur  ;  but,  I  cannot  say.  If  that  tur- 
ban were  off  now,  and  the  paint.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have 
ever  heard  the  name.  But  the  boy,  Pierre,  may  know  him." 

Gourgues  whispered  the  boy  : 

"  Who  is  this  chief  ?  Have  you  ever  seen  him  before  ?  Do 
you  know  him  ?" 

"  No,  Monsieur  ;  I  have  never  seen  him.  I  have  heard  of  him. 
He  is  the  adopted  son  of  the  Great  Chief,  adopted  from  another 
tribe,  I  hear.  But  he  is  as  white  as  I  am,  almost,  and  looks  a 
little  like  a  Frenchman.  I  can't  say,  Monsieur,  but  I  could  swear 
I  knew  the  face.  I  have  seen  one  very  much  like  it,  I  think, 
among  our  own  people." 

"  Who  ?" 

u  I  can't  say,  Monsieur,  I  can't ;  and  the  more  I  look,  the  more 
I  am  uncertain." 

Something  more  was  said  in  an  equally  unsatisfactory  manner, 
and,  in  the  meantime,  the  stranger  took  his  seat  in  the  assembly 
without  seeming  concern.  He  betrayed  no  curiosity  when  his  eye 
rested  upon  the  Frenchmen.  When  it  was  agreed  that  two  per- 
sons should  be  sent,  one  of  the  French  and  one  of  the  red  chiefs 
19 


434  THE   LILY    AND    THE   TOTEM. 

to  make  a  reconnaissance  of  the  Spanish  fortress,  he  rose  quietly, 
looked  towards  Satouriova,  and,  striking  his  breast  slightly,  with 
his  right  hand,  simply  repeated  his  own  name, — - 

"  Holata  Cara !" 

"  It  is  well,"  said  the  chief,  with  an  approving  smile  ;  and  Ho- 
lata Cara,  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  and  Monsieur  d'Estampes, 
a  gentleman  of  Comminges,  on  the  part  of  the  Frenchmen,  were 
sent  to  explore  the  country  under  the  control  of  the  Spanish 
usurpers.  Holata  Cara  immediately  disappeared  from  the  assembly. 
A  few  moments  after  he  was  buried  in  the  deepest  of  the  neigh- 
boring thickets,  while  a  beautiful  young  savage — a  female — who 
might  have  been  a  princess,  and  wore,  like  one,  a  fillet  about  her 
brow,  and  carried  herself  loftily  as  became  a  queen,  stood  beside 
him,  with  her  hand  resting  upon  his  shoulder,  and  her  eye  looking 
tenderly  up  into  his  ;  while  she  said,  in  her  own  language  : 

"  I  will  follow  you,  but  not  to  be  seen  ;  and  our  people  shall 
be  nigh  to  watch,  lest  there  be  danger  from  the  Spaniard." 

The  chief  smiled,  as  if,  in  the  solicitous  speech  to  which  he  lis- 
tened, he  detected  some  sweet  deceit ;  but  he  said  nothing  but 
words  of  parting,  and  these  were  kind  and  affectionate.  It  was 
not  long  before  Holata  Cara  joined  Monsieur  d'Estampes,  the  boy 
Pierre  de  Bre  being  sent  along  with  them,  on  the  reconnaissance 
which  the  allies  had  agreed  was  to  be  made.  In  the  meantime, 
the  better 'to  assure  G-ourgues  of  the  safety  of  D'Estampes,  Satou- 
riova gave  his  son  and  the  best  beloved  of  all  his  wives,  into  the 
custody  of  the  French  as  hostages,  and  they  were  immediately 
conveyed  to  the  safe-keeping  of  the  ships. 

l          ' 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  435 

VII. 
FIRST    FRUITS    OF    THE    ADVENTURE 

THE  reconnaissance  was  completed.  The  report  of  Holata 
Cara  and  D'Etampes  showed  that  the  Spanish  fortress  of  San 
Matheo,  formerly  La  Caroline,  was  in  good  order,  and  with  a 
strong  garrison.  Two  other  forts  which  the  Spaniards  had  raised 
in  the  neighborhood,  commanding  both  sides  of  the  river,  and 
nearer  to  its  mouth,  were  also  surveyed,  and  were  found  to  be 
well  manned  and  in  proper  condition  for  defence.  In  these  three 
forts,  the  garrison  was  found  to  consist  of  four  hundred  sol- 
diers, unequally  distributed,  but  with  a  force  in  each  sufficient 
for  the  post.  Thus  advised,  the  allies  proceeded  severally  to 
array  their  troops  for  the  business  of  assault.  But,  before  march- 
ing, a  solemn  festival  was  appointed  on  the  banks  of  the  Salina 
Cani — by  the  French  called  the  Somme — which  was  the  place 
appointed  for  the  rendezvous.  Here  the  red-men  drank  copious 
draughts  of  their  cassine,  or  apalachine,  a  bitter  but  favorite 
beverage,  the  reported  nature  of  which  is  that  it  takes  away  all 
hunger  and  thirst  for  the  space  of  twenty-four  hours,  from  those 
that  employ  it.  Though  long  used  to  all  sorts  of  trial  and  endur- 
ance, Gourgues  found  it  not  so  easy  to  undergo  this  draught.  Still, 
he  made  such  a  show  of  drinking,  as  to  satisfy  his  confedsrates ; 
and  this  done,  the  allied  chiefs,  lifting  hands  and  eyes,  made 
solemn  oath  of  their  fidelity  in  *he  sight  of  heaven.  The  march 
was  then  begun,  the  red-men  leading  the  way,  and  moving,  in 
desultory  manner,  through  the  woods,  Holata  Cara  at  their  head ; 
while,  pursuing  another  route,  but  under  good  guidance,  and  keep* 
ing  his  force  compactly  together,  our  chevalier  conducted  his 
Frenchmen  to  the  same  point  of  destination.  This  was  the 


436  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

river  Caraba,  or  Salinacani,  named  by  Ribault  the  Somme, 
which  was  at  length  reached,  but  not  without  great  difficulty,  the 
streams  being  overflowed  by  frequent  and  severe  rains,  and  the 
marshy  and  low  tracts  all  under  water.  Food  was  wanting  also 
to  our  Frenchmen,  the  bark  appointed  to  follow  them  with  pro- 
visions, under  Monsieur  Bourdelois  not  having  arrived. 

They  were  now  but  two  leagues  distant  from  the  two  smaller 
forts  which  the  Spaniards  had  established  and  fortified,  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  La  Caroline,  on  the  banks  of  the  May,  or,  as  they 
had  newly  christened  it,  the  San  Matheo.  While  bewildered 
with  doubts  as  to  the  manner  of  reaching  these  forts — the  waters 
everywhere  between  being  swollen  almost  beyond  the  possibility 
of  passage — the  red-men  were  consulted,  and  the  chief,  Helico- 
pile,  was  chosen  to  guide  our  Frenchmen  by  a  more  easy  and  less 
obvious  route.  Making  a  circuit  through  the  woods,  the  whole 
party  at  length  reached  a  point  where  they  could  behold  one  of 
the  forts;  but  a  deep  creek  lay  between,  the  water  of  which  rose 
above  their  waists.  Gourgues,  however,  now  that  his  object  was 
in  sight,  was  not  to  be  discouraged  by  inferior  obstacles  ;  and, 
giving  instructions  to  his  people  to  fasten  their  powder  flasks  to 
their  morions  and  to  carry  their  swords  and  their  calivers  in  their 
hands  above  their  heads,  he  "effected  the  passage  &t  a  point  which 
enabled  them  to  cover  themselves  from  sight  of  the  Spaniards 
by  a  thick  tract  of  forest  which  lay  between  the  fort  and  the  river. 
It  was  sore  fording  for  our  Frenchmen  ;  for  the  bed  of  the  creek 
was  paved  with  great  oysters,  the  shells  of  which  inflicted  sharp 
wounds  upon  their  legs  and  feet ;  and  many  of  them  lost  their 
shoes  in  the  passage.  As  soon  as  they  had  crossed,  they  pre- 
pared themselves  for  the  assault.  Up  to  this  moment,  so  well 
had  the  red-men  guarded  all  the  passages,  and  so  rapid  had  been 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOUKGUES.  437 

their  march,  with  that  of  Gourgues  and  his  party,  that  the 
Spaniards  had  no  notion  that  there  were  any  Frenchmen  in  the 
country.  Still,  they  were  on  the  alert ;  and  so  active  did  they 
show  themselves,  in  and  about  the  fort,  that  our  chevalier  feared 
that  his  approach  had  been  discovered. 

But  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  Giving  twenty  arquebusiers  to 
his  Lieutenant  Casenove,  and  half  that  number  of  mariners, 
armed  with  pots  and  balls  of  wild  fire,  designed  to  burn  the  gate 
of  the  fort,  he  took  a  like  force  under  his  own  command,  with  the 
view  to  making  simultaneous  assaults  in  opposite  quarters.  The 
two  parties  were  scarcely  in  motion,  before  Grourgues  found  the 
chief  Holata  Cara  at  his  side,  followed  by  a  small  party  of  the 
red-men ;  the  rest  had  been  carefully  concealed  in  the  woods,  in 
order  to  pursue  the  combat  after  their  primitive  fashion.  Holata 
Cara  was  armed  only  with  a  long  spear,  which  he  bore  with  great 
dexterity,  and  a  macana  which  now  hung  by  his  side,  a  flattened 
club,  the  two  edges  of  which  were  fitted  with  the  teeth  of  the 
shark,  or  with  great  flints,  ground  down  to  the  sharpness  of  a 
knife.  This  was  his  substitute  for  a  sword,  and  was  a  weapon 
capable  of  inflicting  the  most  terrible  wounds.  The  spear  which 
he  carried  was  headed  also  with  a  massive  dart  of  flint,  curiously 
and  finely  set  in  the  wood,  and  exhibiting  a  rare  instance  of  In- 
dian ingenuity,  in  its  excellence  as  a  weapon  of  offence,  and  its 
rare  and  elaborate  ornament  Grourgues  examined  it  with  much  in- 
terest. The  instrument  was  antique.  It  might  have  been  in 
use  an  hundred  years  or  more.  The  heavy  but  elastic  wood,  al- 
most blackened  by  age  and  oil,  was  polished  like  a  mirror  by  re- 
peated friction.  The  grasp  was  carved  with  curious  ability,  and 
exhibited  the  wings  of  birds  with  eyes  wrought  among  the  feathers, 
in  the  sockets  of  which  great  pearls  were  set,  the  carving  of  the 


438  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

feathers  forming  a  bushy  brow  above,  and  a  shield  all  about  them, 
so  that,  grasp  the  weapon  as  you  would,  the  pearls  were  secure 
from  injury.  Grourgues  examined  the  owner  of  the  spear  with  as 
much  curiosity  as  he  did  the  weapon.  But  without  satisfaction. 
The  features  of  the  other  were  immoveable.  But  the  signals  be- 
ing all  made,  Holata  Cara  waved  his  hand  with  some  impatience 
to  the  fort,  and  Gourgues  had  no  leisure  to  ask  the  questions 
which  that  moment  arose  in  his  mind. 

"  It  was,"  says  the  venerable  chronicle,  "  the  Sunday  eve  next 
after  Easter-day,  April,  1568,"  when  the  signal  for  the  assault 
was  given.  Grourgues  made  a  brief  speech  to  his  followers  before 
they  began  the  attack,  recounting  the  cruel  treachery  and  the 
bloody  deeds  of  the  Spaniards  done  upon  their  brethren  at  La 
Caroline  and  Matanzas  Bay.  Holata  Cara,  resting  with  his  spear 
head  thrust  in  the  earth,  listened  in  silence  to  this  speech.  The 
moment  it  was  ended,  he  led  the  way  for  the  rest,  from  the 
thicket  which  concealed  them.  As  soon  as  the  two  parties 
had  emerged  from  cover,  they  were  descried  by  the  watchful 
Spaniards. 

"  To  arms !  to  arms  !"  was  the  cry  of  their  sentinels.  "  To 
arms  !  these  be  Frenchmen  !" 

To  the  war-cry  of  "  Castile''  and  "Santiago!"  that  of 
"  France  !"  and  "  Saint-Denis  for  France,"  was  cheerily  sent  up 
by  the  assailants  ;  and  it  was  observed  that  no  shout  was  louder  or 
clearer  than  that  of  Holata  Cara,  as  he  hurried  forward. 

When  the  assailants  were  within  two  hundred  paces  of  the  fort, 
the  artillery  of  the  garrison  opened  upon  them  from  a  culverin 
taken  at  La  Caroline,  which  the  Spaniards  succeeded  in  discharg- 
ing twice,  with  some  effect,  while  the  Frenchmen  were  approach- 
ing, A  third  time  was  this  piece  about  to  be  turned  upon  the 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  439 

assailants,  when  Holata  Cara,  rushing  forwards  planted  his  spear 
in  the  ground,  and  swinging  from  it,  with  a  mighty  spring,  suc- 
ceeded, at  a  bound,  in  reaching  .the  platform.  The  gunner  was 
blowing  his  match,  and  about  to  apply  it  to  the  piece,  when  the 
spear  of  the  Indian  chief  was  driven  clean  through  his  body,  and 
the  next  moment  the  slain  man  was  thrust  headlong  down  into  the 
fort.  Stung  by  this  noble  example,  Gourgues  hurried  forward,  and 
the  assault  being  made  successfully  on  the  opposite  side  at  the 
same  instant,  the  Spaniards  fled  from  the  defences.  A  consider- 
able slaughter  ensued  within,  when  they  rushed  desperately  from 
the  enclosure. 

But  they  were  encountered  on  every  side.  Escape  was  vain. 
Of  the  whole  garrison,  consisting  of  threescore  men,  all  were 
slain,  with  the  exception  of  fifteen,  who  were  reserved  for  a  more 
deliberate  punishment. 

Meanwhile  the  fortress  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  opened 
upon  the  assailants,  and  was  answered  by  the  four  pieces  which 
had  been  found  within  the  captured  place.  The  Frenchmen 
were  more  annoyed  than  injured  by  this  distant  cannonade,  and 
immediately  prepared  to  cross  the  river  for  the  conquest  of  this 
new  enemy.  Fortunately,  the  patache,  bringing  their  supplies, 
had  ascended  the  stream,  and,  under  cover  from  the  guns  of  the 
Spaniard,  lay  in  waiting  just  below.  Grourgues,  with  fourscore 
soldiers,  crossed  the  stream  in  her ;  the  Indians  not  waiting  for 
this  slow  conveyance,  but  swimming  the  river,  carrying  their  bows 
and  arrows  with  one  hand  above  their  heads. 

The  Frenchmen  at  once  threw  themselves  into  the  woods  which 
covered  the  space  between  this  second  fort  and  La  Caroline,  the 
latter  being  only  a  league  distant.  The  Spaniards,  apprised  of 
the  movement  of  the  patache,  beholding  shore  and  forest  lined 


440  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

with  the  multitudes  of  red-men,  and  hearing  their  frightful  cries 
on  every  hand,  were  seized  with  an  irresistible  panic,  and,  in  an 
evil  moment  abandoned  their  stronghold,  in  the  hope  of  making 
their  way  through  the  woods,  to  the  greater  fortress  of  La  Caro- 
line. But  they  were  too  late  in  the  attempt.  The  woods  were 
occupied  by  enemies.  Charged  by  the  advancing  Frenchmen, 
they  rushed  into  the  arms  of  the  savages,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  another  fifteen,  were  all  butchered  as  they  fought  or  fled. 
Holata  Cara  was  again  found  the  foremost,  and  the  most  terrible 
agent  in  this  work  of  vengeance. 


VITI. 

THE    CONQUEST    OF    LA    CAROLINE. 

The  Chevalier  de  Gourgues  now  proposed  temporarily  to  rest 
from  his  labors,  and  give  himself  a  reasonable  tune  before  attempt- 
ing the  superior  fortress  of  La  Caroline,  in  ascertaining  its 
strength,  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  capture.  The 
captives  taken  at  the  second  fort  were  transferred  to  the  first,  and 
set  apart  with  their  comrades  for  future  judgment.  From  one  of 
these  he  learned  that  the  garrison  of  La  Caroline  consisted  of 
near  three  hundred  men,  under  command  of  a  brave  and  effi- 
cient governor.  His  prisoners  he  closely  examined  for  infor- 
mation. Having  ascertained  the  height  of  the  platform,  the 
extent  of  the  fortifications,  and  the  nature  of  the  approaches,  he 
prepared  scaling  ladders,  and  made  all  the  necessary  provisions 
for  a  regular  assault.  The  Indians,  meanwhile,  had  been 
ordered  to  environ  the  fortress,  and  so  to  cover  the  whole  face 
of  the  country,  as  to  make  it  impossible  that  the  garrison  should 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  441 

obtain    help,    convey     intelligence  of  their  situation  to  their 
friends  in  St.  Augustine,  or  escape  from  the  beleagured  station. 

While  these  preparations  were  "in  progress,  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernor at  La  Caroline,  now  fully  apprised  of  his  danger,  and  of 
the  capture  of  the  two  smaller  forts,  sent  out  one  of  his  most 
trusty  scouts,  disguised  as  an  Indian,  to  spy  out  the  condition  of 
the  French,  their  strength  and  objects.  But  Holata  Cara,  who 
had  taken  charge  of  the  forces  of  the  red-men,  had  too  well 
occupied  all  the  passages  to  suffer  this  excellent  design  to  prove 
successful.  He  made  the  scout  a  prisoner,  and  readily  saw 
through  all  his  disguises.  Thus  detected,  the  Spaniard  revealed 
all  that  he  knew  of  the  strength  and  resources  of  the  garrison. 
He  described  them  as  in  very  great  panic,  having  been  assured 
that  the  French  numbered  no  less  than  two  thousand  men. 
Gourgues  determined  to  assail  them  in  the  moment  of  their 
greatest  alarm,  and  before  they  should  recover  from  it,  or  be 
undeceived  with  regard  to  his  strength.  The  red-men  were 
counselled  to  maintain  their  ambush  in  the  thickets  skirting  the 
river  on  both  sides,  and  leaving  his  standard-bearer  and  a  cap- 
tain with  fifteen  chosen  men  in  charge  of  the  captured  forts  and 
prisoners,  Gourgues  set  forth  on  his  third  adventure.  He  took 
with  him  the  Spanish  scout  and  another  captive  Spaniard,  a 
sergeant,  as  guides,  fast  fettered,  and  duly  warned  that  any 
attempt  at  deception,  or  escape,  would  only  bring  down  instant 
and  condign  punishment  upon  their  heads  His  ensign,  Monsieur 
de  Mesmes,  with  twenty  arquebusiers,  was  left  to  guard  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and,  with  the  red-men  covering  the  face  of 
the  country,  and  provided  with  all  the  implements  necessary  to 
storm  the  defences,  Gourgues  began  his  march  against  La 
Caroline. 


442  THE    LILT    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

It  was  late  in  the  day  when  the  little  band  set  forth,  and  eve- 
ning began  to  approach  as  they  drew  within  sight  of  the  fortress. 
The  Don  in  command  at  La  Caroline  was  vigilant  enough,  and 
soon  espied  the  advancing  columns.  His  cannon  and  his  culverins, 
commanding  the  river  thoroughly,  began  to  play  with  great 
spirit  upon  our  Frenchmen,  who  were  compelled  to  cover  them- 
selves in  the  woods,  taking  shelter  behind  a  slight  eminence 
within  sight  of  the  fortress.  This  wood  afforded  them  sufficient 
cover  for  their  approaches  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  fortress — the 
precautions  of  the  Spaniard  not  having  extended  to  the  removal 
of  the  forest  growth  by  which  the  place  was  surrounded,  and  by 
help  of  which  the  designs  of  an  enemy  could  be  so  much  facili- 
tated. It  was  under  the  shelter  of  this  very  wood,  and  by  this 
very  route — so  Gourgues  learned  from  his  prisoners — that  the 
Spaniards  had  successfully  surprised  and  assaulted  the  fortress 
two  years  before. 

Here,  then,  our  chevalier  determined  to  lie  perdu  until  the 
next  morning,  the  hour  being  too  late  and  the  enemy  too  watch- 
ful, at  that  moment,  to  attempt  anything.  Besides,  Gourgues 
desired  a  little  time  to  see  how  the  land  lay,  and  how  his  ap- 
proaches should  be  made.  On  that  side  of  the  fortress  which 
fronted  the  hill,  behind  which  our  Frenchmen  harbored,  he  dis- 
covered that  the  trench  seemed  to  be  insufficiently  flanked  for 
the  defence  of  the  curtains. 

While  meditating  in  what  way  to  take  advantage  of  this  weak- 
ness, he  was  agreeably  surprised  by  the  commission  of  an  error, 
on  the  part  of  the  garrison,  which  materially  abridged  his  diffi- 
culties. The  Spanish  governor,  either  with  a  nervous  anxiety  to 
anticipate  events,  or  with  a  fool-hardiness  which  fancied  that  they 
might  be  controlled  by  a  wholesome  audacity,  ordered  a  sortie  ; 


DGMINTQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  443 

and  Gourgues  with  delight  beheld  a  detachment  of  threescore 
soldiers,  deliberately  passing  the  trenches  and  marching  steadily 
into  the  very  jaws  of  ruin. 

Holata  Cara,  as  if  aware  by  instinct,  was  at  once  at  the  side 
of  our  chevalier,  with  his  spear  pointing  to  the  fated  detachment. 
In  a  moment,  the  warrior  sped  with  the  commands  of  Gourgues, 
to  his  lieutenant,  Cazenove,  who,  with  twenty  arquebusiers,  cover- 
ed by  the  wood,  contrived  to  throw  himself  between  the  fortress 
and  the  advancing  party,  cutting  off  all  their  chances  of  escape. 
Then  it  was  that,  with  wild  cries  of  "France  !  France  !"  the 
chevalier  rose  from  his  place  of  hiding,  with  all  his  band,  and 
rushed  out  upon  his  prey,  reserving  his  fire  until  sufficiently  near 
to  render  every  shot  certain.  The  Spaniards  recoiled  from  the 
assault ;  but,  as  they  fled,  were  encountered  in  the  rear  by  the 
squad  under  Cazenove.  The  battle  cry  of  the  French,  resound- 
ing at  once  in  front  and  rear,  completed  their  panic,  and  they 
offered  but  a  feeble  resistance  to  enemies  who  neither  asked  nor 
offered  quarter.  It  was  a  massacre  rather  than  a  fight ;  and 
still,  as  the  French  paused  in  the  work  of  death,  a  shrill  death- 
cry  in  their  midst  aroused  them  anew,  and  they  could  behold  the 
lithe  form  of  the  red  chief,  Holata  Cara,  speeding  from  foe  to 
foe,  with  his  macana  only,  smiting  with  fearful  edge — a  single 
stroke  at  each  several  victim,  followed  ever  by  the  agonizing  yell 
of  death !  Not  a  Spaniard  escaped  of  all  that  passed  through 
the  trenches  on  that  miserable  sortie  ! 

Terrified  by  this  disaster,  so  sudden  and  so  complete,  the  gar- 
rison were  no  longer  capable  of  defence.  They  no  longer 
hearkened  to  the  commands  or  the  encouragements  of  their  gov- 
ernor. They  left,  or  leaped,  the  walls  ;  they  threw  wide  the 
gates,  and  rushed  wildly  into  the  neighboring  thickets,  in  the 


444  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

vain  hope  to  find  security  in  their  dark  recesses,  and  under  cover 
of  the  night.  But  they  knew  not  well  how  the  woods  were  occu- 
pied. At  once  a  torrent  of  yells,  of  torture  and  of  triumph, 
startled  the  echoes  on  every  side.  The  swift  arrow,  the  sharp 
javelin,  the  long  spear,  the  stone  hatchet,  each  found  an  unre- 
sisting victim  ;  and  the  miserable  fugitives,  maddened  with  ter- 
ror, darted  back  upon  the  fortress,  which  was  already  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  French.  They  had  seized  the  opportunity,  and  hi 
.  the  moment  when  the  insubordinate  garrison  threw  wide  the  gates, 
and  leaped  blindly  from  the  parapets,  they  had  swiftly  occupied 
their  places.  The  fugitive  Spaniards,  recoiling  from  the  savages, 
only  changed  one  form  of  death  for  another.  They  suffered  on 
all  hands — were  mercilessly  shot  down  as  they  fled,  or  stabbed  as 
they  surrendered ;  those  only  excepted  who  were  chosen  to  ex- 
piate, more  solemnly  and  terribly,  the  great  crime  of  which  they 
had  been  guilty ! 

IX. 

THE    SACRIFICE    OF    THE    VICTIMS. 

The  captured  fortress  was  won  with  a  singular  facility,  and 
with  so  little  loss  to  the  assailants,  as  to  confirm  them  in  the 
conviction  that  the  service  was  acceptable  to  God.  HE  had 
strengthened  their  hearts  and  arms — HE  had  hung  his  shield  of 
protection  over  them — HE  had  made,  through  the  sting  of  con- 
science, the  souls  of  the  murderous  Spaniards  to  quake  in  fear  at 
the  very  sight  of  the  avengers !  The  fortress  of  La  Caroline 
was  found  to  have  been  as  well  supplied  with  all  necessaries  for 
defence,  as  it  had  been  amply  garrisoned.  It  was  defended  by 
five  double  culver ins ,  by  four  minions,  and  divers  other  cannon 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  445 

of  smaller  calibre  suitable  for  such  a  forest  fortress.  "  Eighteen 
great  cakes  of  gunpowder,"  (it  would  seem  that  this  combustible 
was  put  up  in  those  days  moistened,  and  in  a  different  form  from 
the  present,  and  hence  the  frequent  necessity  for  drying  it,  of 
which  we  read,)  and  every  variety  of  weapon  proper  to  the 
keeping  of  the  fortress,  had  been  supplied  to  the  Spaniards  ;  so 
that,  but  for  the  unaccountable  error  of  the  sortie,  and  but  for 
the  panic  which  possessed  them,  and  which  may  reasonably  be 
ascribed  to  the  natural  terrors  of  a  guilty  conscience,  it  wag 
scarcely  possible  that  the  Chevalier  de  Gourgues,  with  all  his 
prowess,  could  have  succeeded  in  the  assault.  He  transferred  all 
the  arms  to  his  vessels,  but  the  gunpowder  took  fire  from  the 
carelessness  of  one  of  the  savages,  who,  ignorant  of  its  qualities, 
proceeded  to  seethe  his  fish  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  train,  which 
took  fire,  and  blew  up  the  store-house  with  all  its  moveables,  de- 
stroying all  the  houses  within  its  sweep  !  The  poor  savage  him- 
self seems  to  have  been  the  only  human  victim.  The  fortress 
was  then  razed  to  the  ground,  Gourgues  having  no  purpose  to  re- 
establish a  colony  which  he  had  not  the  power  to  maintain. 

But  his  vengeance  was  not  complete.  The  final  act  of  expiation 
was  yet  to  take  place ;  and,  bringing  all  his  prisoners  together,  he 
had  them  conducted  to  the  fatal  tree  upon  which  the  Spaniards 
had  done  to  death  their  Huguenot  captives  !  This  was  at  a  short 
distance  from  the  fortress. 

Mournful  was  the  spectacle  that  met  the  eyes  of  the  French- 
men as  they  reached  the  spot.  There  still  hung  the  withered  and 
wasted  skeletons  of  their  brethren,  naked,  bare  of  flesh,  bleached, 
and  rattling  against  the  branches  of  the  thrice-accursed  tree ! 
The  tempest  had  beaten  wildly  against  their  wasted  forms — the 
obscene  birds  had  preyed  upon  their  carcasses — some  had  fallen, 


446  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

and  lay  in  undistinguished  heaps  upon  the  earth  ;  but  the  entire 
skeletons  of  many,  unbroken,  still  waved  in  the  unconscious 
breezes  of  heaven  !  For  two  weary  years  had  they  been  thus 
tossed  and  shaken  in  the  tempest.  For  two  years  had  they  thus 
waved,  ghastly,  white,  and  terrible,  in  mockery  of  the  blessed 
sunshine  !  And  now,  in  the  genial  breezes  of  April,  they  still 
shook  aloft  in  horrible  contrast  with  the  green  leaves,  and  the 
purple  blossoms  of  the  spring  around  them  !  But  they  were  now 
decreed  to  take  their  shame  from  the  suffering  eyes  of  day !  A 
solemn  service  -Yas  said  over  the  wretched  remains,  which  were 
taken  down  with  cautious  hands,  as  considerately  as  if  they  were 
still  accessible  to  hurt,  and  buried  in  one  common  grave  !  The 
red-men  looked  on  wondering,  and  in  grave  silence  ;  and  Holata 
Cara,  leaning  upon  his  spear,  might  almost  be  thought  to  weep 
at  the  cruel  spectacle. 

But  his  aspect  changed  when  the  Spanish  captives  were  brought 
forth.  They  were  ranged,  manacled  in  pairs,  beneath  the  same 
tree  of  sacrifice.  Briefly,  and  in  stern  accents,  did  G-ourgues  recite 
the  crime  of  which  they  had  been  guilty,  and  which  they  were 
now  to  expiate  by  a  sufferance  of  the  same  fate  which  they  had 
decreed  to  their  victims  !  Prayers  and  pleadings  were  alike  in 
vain.  The  priest  who  had  performed  the  solemn  rites  for  the 
dead,  now  performed  the  last  duties  for  the  living  judged  !  He 
heard  their  confessions.  One  of  the  wretched  victims  confessed 
that  the  judgment  under  which  he  was  about  to  suffer  was  a  just 
one  ;  that  he  himself,  with  his  own  hands,  had  hung  no  less  than 
five  of  the  wretched  Huguenots.  With  such  a  confession  ringing 
in  their  ears,  it  was  not  possible  for  the  French  to  be  merciful ! 
At  a  given  signal,  the  victims  were  run  up  to  the  deadly  branches, 
which  they  themselves  had  accursed  by  such  employment ;  and 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  447 

even  while  their  suspended  forms  writhed  and  quivered  with  the 
last  fruitless  efforts  of  expiring  consciousness,  the  chieftain  Ho- 
lata  Cara  looked  upon  them  with  a  cold,  hard  eye,  stern  and  tear- 
less, as  if  he  felt  the  dreadful  propriety  of  this  wild  and  unrelent- 
ing justice  !  The  deed  done — the  expiation  made — G-ourgues  then 
procured  a  huge  plank  of  pine,  upon  which  he  caused  to  be 
"branded,  with  a  searing  iron,  in  rude,  but  large,  intelligible  char- 
acters, these  words,  corresponding  to  that  inscription  put  by  the 
Spaniards  over  the  Huguenots,  and  as  a  fitting  commentary  upon 
it: — 

"®[)£0e  are  not  Ijtrng  a0  Spaniard, 

nor  a0  iHarmer0,  but  a0 

<ftraitor0,  Hobb*r0,  anft 

JUurfcra* !" 

How  long  they  hung  thus,  bleaching  in  storm  and  sunshine  ;  how 
long  this  terrible  inscription  remained  as  a  record  of  their  crime 
and  of  this  history,  the  chronicle  does  not  show,  nor  is  it  needful. 
The  record  is  inscribed  in  pages  that  survive  storm,  and  wreck, 
and  fire  ; — more  indelibly  written  than  on  pillars  of  brass  and 
marble  !  It  hangs  on  high  forever,  where  the  eyes  of  the  criminal 
may  read  how  certainly  will  the  vengeance  of  heaven  alight,  or 
soon  or  late,  upon  the  offender,  who  wantonly  exults  in  the  mo- 
ment of  security  in  the  commission  of  great  crimes  done  upon 
suffering  humanity. 


448  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

XL 

THE  CHIEFS  OF  THE  LILY  AND  THE  TOTEM  EMBRACE  AND 
PART. 

"  SAN  AUGUSTINE  !"• 

Such  were  the  words  spoken  to  Gourgues  by  Holata  Cara  at  the 
close  of  this  terrible  scene  of  vengeance,  and  his  spear  was  at  once 
turned  in  the  direction  of  the  remaining  Spanish  fortress.  Gour- 
gues readily  understood  the  suggestion,  but  he  shook  his  head  re- 
gretfully— 

"  I  am  too  feeble  !  We  have  not  the  force  necessary  to  such 
an  effort !" 

The  red  chief  made  no  reply  in  words,  but  he  turned  away  and 
waved  his  spear  over  the  circuit  which  was  covered  by  the  thou- 
sand savages  who  had  collected  to  the  conflict,  even  as  the  birds 
of  prey  gather  to  the  field  of  battle. 

But  Gourgues  again  shook  his  head.  He  had  no  faith  in  the  al- 
liance with  the  red-men.  He  knew  their  caprice  of  character, 
their  instability  of  purpose,  and  the  sudden  fluctuations  of  their 
moods,  which  readily  discovered  the  enemy  of  the  morrow  in  the 
friend  of  to-day.  Besides,  his  contemplated  task  was  ended.  He 
had  achieved  the  terrible  work  of  vengeance  which  he  had  proposed 
to  himself  and  followers,  and  his  preparations  did  not  extend  to 
any  longer  delay  in  the  country.  He  had  neither  means  nor  pro- 
visions. 

He  collected  the  tribes  around  him.  All  the  kings  and  princes 
of  the  Floridian  gathered  at  his  summons,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ta- 
catacorou,  or  Seine,  where  he  had  left  his  vessels,  some  fifteen 
leagues  from  La  Caroline.  Thither  he  marched  by  land  in  battle 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  449 

array,  having  sent  all  his  captured  munitions  and  arms  with  his 
artillerists  by  sea,  in  the  patache. 

The  red-men  hailed  him  with  songs  and  dances,  as  the  Israel- 
ites hailed  Saul  and  David  returning  with  the  spoils  of  the  Philis- 
tines. 

"  Now  let  me  die,"  cried  one  old  woman,  "  now  that  I  behold 
the  Spaniards  driven  out,  and  the  Frenchmen  once  more  in  the 
country." 

G-ourgues  quieted  them  with  promises.  It  may  be  that  he  really 
hoped  that  his  sovereign  would  sanction  his  enterprise,  and  avail 
himself  of  what  had  been  done  to  establish  a  French  colony  again 
in  Florida  ;  and  he  promised  the  Floridians  that  in  twelve  months 
they  should  again  behold  his  vessels. 

The  moment  arrived  for  the  embarkation,  but  where  was  Holata 
Cara  ?  The  Frenchman  inquired  after  him  in  vain.  Satouriova 
only  replied  to  his  earnest  inquiries, — 

"  Holata  Cara  is  a  great  chief  of  the  Apalachian  !  He  hath 
gone  among  his  people." 

A  curious  smile  lurked  upon  the  lips  of  the  Paracoussi  as  he 
made  this  answer  ;  but  the  inquiries  of  Gourgues  could  extract 
nothing  from  him  further. 

They  embraced — our  chevalier  and  his  Indian  allies — and  the 
Frenchmen  embarked,  weighed  anchor,  and,  with  favoring  winds, 
were  shortly  out  of  sight.  Even  as  they  stretched  away  for  tho 
east,  the  eyes  of  Holata  Cara  watched  their  departure  from  a  dis- 
tant headland  where  he  stood  embowered  among  the  trees.  TliG 
graceful  figure  of  an  Indian  princess  stood  beside  his  own,  one 
hand  shading  her  eyes,  and  the  other  resting  on  his  shoulder.  At 
length  he  turned  from  gazing  on  the  dusky  sea. 

"  They  are  gone  !"  she  exclaimed, 


450  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 


"  Gone  !"  he  answered,  in  her  own  dialect.  "  Gone  !  Let  n* 
depart  also  !"  And  thus  speaking,  they  joined  their  tawny  fol- 
lowers who  awaited  them  in  the  neighboring  thicket,  within  the 
shadows  of  which  they  soon  disappeared  from  sight. 


XI. 

MORALS    OF    REVENGE. 

HISTORIANS  have  been  divided  in  opinion  with  regard  to  the 
propriety  of  that  wild  justice  which  Dominique  de  Gourgues  in- 
flicted upon  the  murderers  of  his  countrymen  at  La  Caroline.  One 
class  of  writers  hath  preached  from  the  text,  "  Vengeance  is  mine 
saith  the  Lord  ;"  another  from  that  which,  permissive  rather  than 
mandatory,  declares  that  "  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man 
shall  his  blood  be  shed." 

Charlevoix  regrets  that  so  remarkable  an  achievement  as  that 
of  Gourgues,  so  honorable  to  the  nation,  and  so  glorious  for  himself, 
should  not  have  been  terminated  by  an  act  of  clemency,  which, 
sparing  the  survivors  of  the  Spanish  forts,  should  have  contrasted 
beautifully  with  the  brutal  behavior  of  the  Spaniards  under  the 
like  circumstances  ;  as  if  the  enterprise  itself  had  anything  but 
revenge  for  its  object ;  as  if  the  butcheries  which  accompanied  the 
several  attacks  upon  the  Spanish  forts,  and  the  butcheries  which 
followed  them — where  the  victims  were  trembling  and  flying  men 
— were  any  whit  more  justifiable  than  the  single,  terrible  act  of 
massacre  which  appropriately  furnished  the  catastrophe  to  the 
whole  drama ! 

If  the  Spaniards  were  to  be  spared  at  all,  why  the  enterprise  at 
all  ?  No  wrong  was  then  in  progress,  to  be  defeated  by  interpo- 
sition ;  no  design  of  recovering  French  territory  or  re-establish- 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUE8.  451 

ing  the  French  colony  was  in  contemplation,  making  the  enterprise 
necessary  to  success  hereafter.  The  entire  purpose  of  the  expe- 
dition was  massacre  only,  and  a  bloody  vengeance  ! 

It  is  objected  to  this  expedition  of  Grourgues,  that  reprisals  are 
rarely  possible  without  working  some  injustice.  This  would  be  an 
argument  against  all  law  and  every  social  government.  But  it  is 
said  that  revenge  does  not  always  find  out  the  right  victim,  par- 
ticularly in  such  a  case  as  the  present,  and  that  the  innocent  is 
frequently  made  to  suffer  for  the  guilty. 

Grourgues  could  not,  it  would  seem,  have  greatly  mistaken  his 
victims,  when  we  find  one  of  them  confessing  to  the  murder  of  five 
of  the  Huguenots  by  his  own  hand,  and  none  of  them  disclaiming 
a  participation  in  the  crime.  But  there  is  a  better  answer  even 
than  this  instance  affords,  and  it  conveys  one  of  those  warning  les- 
sons to  society,  the  neglect  of  which  too  frequently  results  in  its 
discomfiture  or  ruin. 

That  society  or  nation  which  is  unable  or  unwilling  to  prevent 
or  punish  the  offender  within  its  own  sphere  and  province,  must 
incur  his  penalties  ;  and  this  principle  once  recognized,  it  becomes 
imperative  with  every  citizen  to  take  heed  of  the  public  conduct 
of  his  fellow,  and  the  proper  exercise  of  right  and  justice  on  the 
part  of  his  ruler.  There  are,  no  doubt,  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
doing  this  always  ;  but  what  if  it  were  commonly  understood  and 
felt  that  each  citizen  had  thus  at  heart  the  wholesome  administra- 
tion of  exact  justice  on  the  part  of  the  society  in  which  he  lived, 
and  the  Government  which  can  exist  only  by  the  sympathies  of 
the  people  ?  How  prompt  would  be  the  remedy  furnished  by  the 
ruler  to  the  suffering  party !  how  slow  the  impulse  to  wrong  on 
the  part  of  the  criminal ! 

The   suggestion  that  magnanimity  and  mercy  shown  to  the 


462  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

Spaniards  by  Grourgues,  after  his  victory,  would  have  had  such  a 
beautiful  effect  upon  the  consciences  of  those  guilty  wretches,  is 
altogether  ridiculous.  The  idea  exhibits  a  gross  ignorance  of  the 
nature  of  the  Spaniards  at  the  time.  Q-ourgues  knew  them  thor- 
oughly. A  more  base,  faithless,  treacherous  and  murderous  char- 
acter never  prevailed  among  civilized  nations,  and  never  could 
prevail  among  any  nation  of  warlike  barbarians.  We  do  not 
mean  to  justify  G-orgues  ;  but  may  say  that  it  is  well,  perhaps,  for 
humanity,  that  heroism  sometimes  puts  on  the  terrors  of  the 
avenger,  and  visits  the  enormous  crime,  which  men  would  other- 
wise fail  to  reach,  with  penalties  somewhat  corresponding  with  the 
degree  and  character  of  the  offence  !  There  are  sometimes  cri- 
minals whom  it  is  a  mere  tempting  of  Providence  to  leave  only  to 
the  judgments  of  eternity  and  their  own  seared,  cold,  and  wicked 
hearts.  The  murderer  whose  hands  you  cannot  bind,  you  must 
cut  off;  not  because  you  thirst  for  his  blood,  but  because  he 
thirsts  for  yours  !  But  ours  is  not  the  field  for  discussion,  and 
we  may  well  leave  the  question  for  decision  to  the  instincts  of  hu- 
manity. The  vengeance  which  moves  the  nations  to  clap  hands 
with  rejoicing  has,  perhaps,  a  much  higher  guaranty  and  sanction 
than  the  common  law  of  morals  can  afford. 


•y.  xii. 

THE    CHEVALIER  AT    HOME MONTLUC  COUNSELS   GOURGUES 

FROM    HIS    COMMENTARIES. 

HAVING  taken  his  farewell  of  the  Floridians,  and  embarked  with 
all  his  people,  it  was  on  board  of  his  vessels,  with  their  wings 
spread  to  the  breeze,  that  the  Chevalier  De  Gourgues  offered  up 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  453 

solemn  acknowledgments  to  Heaven,  for  the  special  sanction  which 
ho  had  found  in  its  favor  for  the  enterprise  achieved.  It  was 
with  a  heart  full  of  gratitude,  that  he  bowed  down  on  the  deck  of 
his  little  bark,  and  offered  up  his  prayer  to  the  God  of  Battles 
for  the  succor  afforded  him  in  his  extremity.  It  was  with  a  light 
heart  that  he  meditated  upon  the  sanguinary  justice  done  upon 
the  cruel  enemies  of  his  people ;  the  honor  of  his  country's  flag 
redeemed  by  a  poor  soldier  of  fortune,  when  disgraced  and  de- 
serted by  the  monarch  and  the  court,  who  derived  all  their  distinc- 
tion from  its  venerable  and  protecting  folds.  It  was  with  a  just 
and  honorable  pride  that  he  felt  how  certainly  he  had  made  the 
record  of  his  name  in  the  pages  of  history,  by  an  action  grateful 
to  the  fame  of  the  soldier,  and  still  more  grateful  to  the  fears  and 
sympathies  of  outraged  humanity.  The  acclamations  of  the  wild 
Floridian — their  praises  and  songs  of  victory,  however  wild  and 
rude — were  but  a  foretaste  of  those  which  he  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect from  the  lips  of  his  countrymen  in  la  Belle  France  !  Alas  ' 
the  hand  of  power  covered  the  lips  of  rejoicing  !  The  despotism 
of  the  land  shook  a  heavy  rod  over  the  people,  silencing  the 
voice  of  praise,  and  chilling  the  heart  of  sympathy.  But  let  us 
not  anticipate. 

The  Chevalier  DeGourgues  sailed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Taoa- 
tacorou,  on  the  third  of  May,  1568.  For  seventeen  days  the 
voyage  was  prosperous,  and  his  vessels  ran  eleven  hundred  leagues  ; 
and  on  the  sixth  of  June,  thirty-four  days  after  leaving  the  coast 
of  Florida,  he  arrived  at  Rochelle.  The  latter  half  of  his  voy- 
age had  been  far  different  from  the  first.  As  at  his  departure 
from  France,  he  suffered  severely  front  head  winds  and  angry 
tempests.  His  provisions  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  his  people 
began  to  suffer  from  famine.  His  consorts  separated  from  him  in 


454  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

the  storm,  one  of  them,  the  patache,  being  lost  with  its  whole 
complement  of  eight  men ;  the  other  not  reaching  port  for  a 
month  after  himself.  His  escape  was  equally  narrow  from  other 
and  less  merciful  enemies  than  hunger  and  shipwreck.  The  bruit 
of  his  adventure,  to  his  great  surprise,  had  reached  the  country 
before  him.  The  Spanish  court,  well  served,  in  that  day,  by  its 
emissaries,  had  been  advised  of  his  progress,  and  that  he  had  ap- 
peared at  Rochelle.  A  fleet  of  eighteen  sail,  led  by  one  large 
vessel,  was  instantly  despatched  in  pursuit  of  him. 

Received  with  good  cheer  and  great  applause  by  the  people  of 
Rochelle,  it  was  fortunate  that  he  did  not  linger  there.  He  set 
forth  with  his  vessel  for  Bordeaux ;  there  he  went  to  render  an  ac- 
count to  his  friend,  the  Marechal  Blaize  de  Montluc,  of*  his  ad- 
ventures. This  timely  movement  saved  him.  The  pursuing 
Spaniards  reached  Che-de-Bois  the  very  day  that  he  had  left  it, 
and  continued  the  chase  as  far  as  Blaze.  He  reached  Bordeaux 
in  safety,  and  made  his  report  to  the  king's  lieutenant. 

Montluc  was  one  of  those  glorious  Gascons  who  would  always 
much  prefer  to  fight  than  eat.  He  was  proud  of  the  chevalier  as 
a  G-ascon,  and  he  loved  him  as  a  friend.  But  the  approbation 
that  he  expressed  in  private,  he  did  not  venture  openly  to  speak. 

•* 

"  You  have  done  a  famous  thing,  Monsieur  De  Gourgues,  you 
have  saved  the  honor  of  France,  and  won  immortal  glory  for 
yourself ;  but  the  king's  lieutenant  must  not  say  this  to  the  king's 
people.  I  praise  G-od  that  you  are  a  Gascon  like  myself,  and  no 
race,  I  think,  Monsieur  De  Gourgues,  was  ever  quite  so  valiant  as 
our  own  ;  but  my  friend,  I  fear  they  do  not  love  us  any  the  bet- 
ter that  they  have  not  the  soul  to  rival  us.  I  fear  that  the  glory 
thou  hast  won  will  bring  thee  to  the  halter  only.  Hearken,  my 
friend,  Dominique,  dost  thou  know  that,  at  this  very  moment,  thy 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  455 

vessel  is  pursued  by  a  host  of  Spanish  caravels  ?  the  winds  rend 
and  the  seas  sink  them  to  perdition  !  Thou  knowest,  how  I  hate, 
and  scorn,  and  spit  upon  the  cut-throat  scoundrels !  Well ! 
That  is  not  all,  I  tell  thee,  Dominique,  my  friend,  there  is  a 
courier  already  on  his  way  to  the  ambassador  of  Spain,  who  will 
demand  thy  head  from  our  sovereign,  that  it  may  give  pleasure 
to  his  sovereign,  the  black-hearted  and  venomous  Philip.  What 
would  he  with  thy  head,  my  friend  ?  I  tell  thee,  it  is  his  wretched 
selfishness  that  would  take  thy  head — not  that  it  may  be  useful  to 
him,  but  that  it  shall  no  longer  be  of  use  to  thee  !  Was  there 
ever  such  a  fool  and  monster  !  Thou  shouldst  keep  thy  head, 
my  friend,  so  long  as  thou  hast  a  use  for  it  thyself,  even  though 
it  ache  thee  many  times  after  an  unnecessary  bottle  !'' 

"  Think'st  thou,  Montluc,  that  there  is  any  danger  that  the 
court  of  France  will  give  ear  to  the  king  of  Spain  ?" 

"  Give  ear  !  Ay,  give  both  ears,  my  friend !  Our  head  is  in 
the  lap  of  Spain  already.  She  hath  the  shears  with  which  she 
shall  clip  the  hair  by  which  our  strength  is  shorn  ;  and,  if  she  will, 
me  thinks,  she  may  clip  head  as  well  as  hair,  when  the  humor 
suits.  It  is  not  now,  my  friend,  as  when  we  fought  against  the 
bloody  dogs  at  Sienna,  remembering  only  to  outdo  the  famous 
deeds  of  the  stout  men-at-arms  that  followed  Bayard  and  La 
Palisse  in  the  generation  gone  before.  Ah  !  Monsieur,  thou  wast 
with  me  in  those  days.  Thou  rememberest,  I  trow,  the  famous 
skirmish  which  we  had  before  the  little  town  of  Seve.  But  I  will 
read  thee  from  my  commentaries,  which  I  have  been  writing  in 
imitation  of  Roman  Caesar,  of  the  wonderful  wars  and  sieges  in 
which  I  have  fought,  and  in  which  I  have  evermore  found  most 
delight." 

And  he  drew  forth  from  his  cabinet,  as  he  spoke,  the  great 


456  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

volume  of  manuscripts,  afterwards  destined  to  become  the  famous 
depository  of  his  deeds. 

"  I  have  written  like  a  Gascon,  Monsieur  De  Gourgues,  but  let 
none  complain  who  is  not  able  to  do  battle  like  a  Gascon  !  He 
who  fights  well,  my  friend,  may  surely  be  allowed  the  privilege  of 
showing  how  goodly  were  his  deeds.  I  will  read  thee  but  a  pas- 
sage from  that  famous  skirmish  at  Seve  ;  not  merely  that  thou, 
shouldst  see  the  spirit  of  what  I  have  written,  and  bear  witness 
to  the  truth,  but  that  thou  mayst  find  for  thyself  a  fitting  lesson 
for  thy  own  conduct  in  the  straight  which  is  before  thee." 

Having  found  the  passage,  Montluc  read  as  follows : 

"  As  the  Signior  Francisco  Bernardin  and  myself,  who,  for  that 
time  were  the  Marshals  of  the  camp,  drew  nigh  to  the  place,  and 
were  beginning  to  lodge  the  army,  there  sallied  forth  from  fort, 
and  church,  and  trench,  a  matter  of  two  or  three  hundred  men, 
who  charged  upon  us  with  the  greatest  fury.  I  had  with  me  at 
that  time,  but  the  Captain  Charry — a  most  brave  captain,  whom 
thou  must  well  remember — v 

Gourgues  nodded  assent — 

" with  fifty   arquebusiers   and   a  small   body   of    horse 

Knowing  this  my  weakness,  the  Baron  de  Chissy,  our  camp- 
master,  sent  me  a  reinforcement  of  one  hundred  arquebusiers. 
But  my  peril  was  such,  that  I  sent  to  him  straightway  for  other 
help,  telling  him  that  we  were  already  at  it,  and  close  upon  tho 
encounter.  At  this  very  moment,  Monsieur  de  Bonnivet,  return- 
ing post  from  court,  and  hearing  of  the  fighting,  said  to  the  Baron 
de  Chissy,  without  alighting  from  his  horse — 

"  ( Do  thou  halt  here  till  the  Marechal  shall  arrive,  and,  mean- 
while, I  will  go  and  succor  Monsieur  de  Montluc.' 

"He  was  followed  by  certain    captains   and  arquebusiers  on 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUES.  467 

horseback.  We  had  but  an  instant  for  embrace  when  he  arrived, 
for  the  enemy  were  already  charging  our  men. 

"  '  You  are  welcome,  Monsieur  de  Bonnivet,'  I  said  to  him 
quickly  ;  i  but  alight,  and  let  us  set  upon  these  people,  and  beat 
them  back  again  into  their  fortress. ' 

"  Whereupon,  he  and  his  followers  instantly  alighted,  and  he 
said  to  me,  £  do  you  charge  directly  upon  those,  who  would  re- 
cover the  fort.' 

"  Which  said,  he  clapped  his  buckler  upon  his  arm,  while  I 
caught  up  an  halbert,  for  I  ever  (as  thou  knowest)  loved  to  play 
with  that  sort  of  cudgel.  Then  I  said  to  Signior  Francisco  Ber- 
nardin — 

"  '  Comrade,  whilst  we  charge,  do  you  continue  to  provide  the 
quarters.' 

"  But  to  this  he  answered — 

" i  And  is  that  all  the  reckoning  you  make  of  the  employment 
the  Marechal  hath  entrusted  to  our  charge  ?  If  it  must  be 
that  you  will  fight  thus — I  will  be  a  fool  for  company,  and,  once 
in  my  life,  play  Gascon  also.' 

"  So  he  alighted  and  went  with  me  to  the  charge.  He  was  armed 
with  very  heavy  weapons,  and  had,  moreover,  become  unwieldy 
from  weight  of  years.  This  kept  him  from  making  such  speed  as 
I.  At  such  banquets,  my  body  methought  did  not  weigh  an 
ounce.  I  felt  not  that  I  touched  the  ground ;  and,  for  the  pain  of 
my  hip  (greatly  hurt  as  thou  knowest  by  a  fall  at  the  taking  of 
Quiers)  that  was  forgotten !  I  thus  charged  straightway  upon 
those  by  the  trench  upon  one  side,  and  Monsieur  de  Bonnivet  did 
as  much  upon  his  quarter ;  so  that  we  thundered  the  rogues  back 
with  such  a  vengeance,  that  I  passed  over  the  trench,  pell-mell, 
amidst  the  route,  pursuing,  smiting  and  slaying,  all  the  way,  till 
20 


458  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

we  reached  the  church  !  I  never  so  laid  about  me  before,  or  did 
so  much  execution  at  any  one  time.  Those  within  the  church, 
seeing  their  people  in  such  disorder,  and  so  miserably  cut  to 
pieces,  in  a  great  terror,  fled  from  the  place,  taking,  in  flight,  a 
little  pathway  that  led  along  the  rocky  ledges  of  the  mountain, 
down  into  the  town.  In  this  route,  one  of  my  men  caught  hold 
upon  him  who  carried  their  ensign ;  but  the  fellow  nimbly  and 
very  bravely  disengaged  himself  from  him,  and  leapt  into  the  path ; 
making  for  the  town  as  fast  as  he  could  speed.  I  ran  after  him 
also,  but  he  was  too  quick  even  for  me,  as  well  he  might  be, — 
for  he  had  fear  in  loth  his  heels  /" 

Here  Montluc  paused,  and  closed  the  volume. 

"  It  is  enough  that  I  have  read ;  for  thou  wilt  see  the  counsel 
that  I  design  for  thee.  It  is  not  easy  for  thee  to  take  it,  being  a 
Gascon  ;  but  such  it  is,  borrowed  from  the  wisdom  of  that  same 
ensign.  Thou  sawest  him  scamper,  for  thou  wert  on  that  very 
chase  ; — now,  if  thou  wouldst  save  thy  head  from  the  affections 
of  the  king  of  Spain,  take  fear  in  loth  thy  heels,  and  run  as  nimbly 
as  that  ensign." 

"  Verily,  it  is  not  easy,  Monsieur  de  Montluc,  seeing  that  I 
am  conscious  of  no  wrong,  but  rather  of  a  great  service  done  to 
my  country ;  and  if  my  own  king  deliver  me  not  up,  wherefore 
should  I  fear  him  of  Spain." 

"  That  is  it,  my  friend !  Our  king  will,  not  from  his  own  na- 
ture, but  from  that  of  others,  who  love  not  this  service  to  thy 
country.  The  Queen-mother  will  deliver  thee  up,  the  Princes  of 
Lorraine  will  deliver  thee  up,  and  the  devil  will  deliver  thee  up — 
all  having  a  great  affection  for  the  king  of  Spain — if  thou  trust  not 
the  counsel  of  thy  friends,  and  wilfully  put  thy  head  in  one  di- 
rection where  the  wisdom  of  thy  heels  would  show  thee  quito 


DOMINIQUE    DE    GOURGUE8.  459 

another.  Hast  thou  forgotten  that  good  proverb  of  the  Italians, 
which  we  heard  so  much  read  from  their  lips  and  honored  in  their 
actions, — *  No  tefidar,  et  no  serai  inganatoV  Above  all,  mon 
ami,  trust  nothing  to  thy  hope,  when  it  builds  upon  thy  service 
done  to  kings.  It  is  a  hope  that  has  hung  a  thousand  good  fel- 
lows who  might  be  living  to  this  day.  Now,  in  counselling  theo 
to  flight  and  secrecy,  I  counsel  thee  against  my  own  pride  and 
pleasure.  It  would  be  a  great  delight  to  me  to  have  thee  near 
me,  while  I  read  thee  all  mine  history ; — the  beginning,  even  to 
the  end  thereof ; — the  thousand  sieges,  battles  and  achievements, 
in  which  I  have  shown  good  example  to  the  young  valor  of 
France,  and  made  the  Gascon  name  famous  throughout  the 
world." 

The  heart  of  the  Chevalier  Gourgues  was  not  persuaded.  He 
could  not  believe  that  his  good  deeds  for  his  country's  good  and 
honor,  would  meet  with  ill-return  and  disgrace. 

"  The  king  will  do  me  justice." 

"  Verily,  should  he  even  give  thee  to  him  of  Spain,  or  hang 
thee  himself,  they  will  call  it  by  no  other  name,"  answered 
the  other  drily. 

"  But  the  baseness  and  the  cowardice  of  flight !  This  confiding 
one's  courage  and  counsel  to  one's  heels,  Montluc  !" 

"  Is  wisdom,  as  thou  shouldst  know  from  the  story  of  Achilles. 
Verily,  it  requires  that  the  secret  meaning  of  this  vulnerableness 
of  the  heel  on  the  part  of  the  son  of  Thetis,  is  neither  more  nor 
less  than  that  he  was  a  monstrous  coward — that  he  would  have 
been  the  bravest  man  of  the  world,  but  for  the  weakness  that 
always  made  him  fly  from  danger.  It  was  in  the  form  of  allegory 
that  the  satirical  poet  stigmatised  a  man  in  authority.  You  see 
nothing  in  the  treatment  of  Hector  by  Achilles,  but  what  will 


460  THE    LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

confirm  this  opinion.  He  will  not  fight  with  him  himself,  but 
makes  his  myrmidons  do  so.  What  is  this,  but  the  case  of  one 
of  our  own  plumed  and  scented  nobles,  who  procures  his  foe, 
whom  he  fears,  to  be  murdered  by  the  Biscayan  bully  whom  he 
buys  ? — But,  let  me  read  thee  a  passage  from  my  commentaries 
bearing  very  much  upon  this  history." 


XIII. 

FALL  OF  THE  CURTAIN. 

WE  need  not  listen  to  this  passage.  The  reader  will  find  it, 
with  other  good  things,  in  the  huge  tome  of  the  braggart,  and 
garrulous,  but  very  shrewd  and  valiant  old  Gascon.  Enough  to  say, 
that  this  counsel  did  not  prevail  with  his  friend.  Gourgues  deter- 
mined to  persevere  in  his  original  intention  of  presenting  himself 
at  court.  His  reasons  for  this  resolution  were  probably  not  alto- 
gether shown  to  Montluc.  Gourgues  was  a  bankrupt,  and 
needed  employment.  His  expedition  had  absorbed  his  little 
fortune,  and  left  him  a  debtor,  without  the  means  of  repayment. 
With  the  highest  reputation  as  a  captain,  by  land  and  sea, — and 
with  his  name  honored  by  the  sentiment  of  the  nation,  which  was 
not  permitted  to  applaud, — he  still  fondly  hoped  that  his  friend 
had  mistaken  his  position,  and  that  he  should  be  honored  and 
welcomed  to  the  favor  and  service  of  his  sovereign.  He  was  one 
of  those  to  hope  against  hope. 

"  As  thou  wilt !  Unbolt  the  door  for  the  man  who  is  wilful. 
If  thy  resolution  be  taken,  I  say  no  more.  But  thou  shalt  have 
letters  to  the  Court,  and  if  the  words  of  an  old  friend  and  brother 
in  arms  may  do  thee  good,  thou  shalt  have  the  sign-manual  of 
Montluc,  to  as  many  missives  as  it  shall  please  thee  to  despatch." 


tnee  to  aei 


DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES.  461 

The  letters  were  written  ;  and,  with  a  full  narrative  of  his  ex- 
pedition prepared,  the  Chevalier  de  Gourgues  made  his  appearance 
at  court.  He  had  anticipated  the  ambassador  of  Spain  ;  but  he 
was  received  coldly.  The  Queen  Mother,  and  the  Princes  of 
Lorraine,  with  all  who  worshipped  at  their  altars,  turned  their 
backs  upon  the  heroic  enthusiast.  The  king  forebore  to  smile. 
In  his  secret  heart,  he  really  rejoiced  in  the  vengeance  taken  by 
his  subject  upon  the  Spaniards,  but  he  was  not  in  a  situation  to 
declare  his  true  sentiments.  Meanwhile,  the  Spanish  ambassador 
demanded  the  offender,  and  set  a  price  upon  his  head.  The 
Queen  Mother  and  her  associates  denounced  him.  A  process 
was  initiated  to  hold  him  responsible,  in  his  life,  for  an  enterprise 
undertaken  without  authority  against  the  subjects  of  a  monarch 
in  alliance  with  France  ;  and  our  chevalier  was  compelled  to  hide 
from  the  storm  which  he  dared  not  openly  encounter.  For  a 
long  time  he  lay  concealed  in  Rouen,  at  the  house  of  the 
President  de  Marigny,  and  with  other  ancient  friends.  In  this 
situation,  the  Queen  of  England,  Elizabeth,  made  him  overtures, 
and  offered  him  employment  in  her  service  ;  but  the  tardy  grace 
of  his  own  monarch,  at  length,  enabled  him  to  decline  the  ap- 
pointments of  another  and  a  hostile  sovereign.  But,  nevertheless, 
though  admitted  to  mercy  by  the  king  of  France,  he  was  left 
without  employment.  Fortune,  in  the  end,  appeared  to  smile. 
Don  Antonio,  of  Portugal,  offered  him  the  command  of  a  fleet 
which  he  had  armed  with  the  view  to  sustaining  his  right  to  the 
crown  of  that  country,  which  Philip  of  Spain  was  preparing  to 
usurp.  Gourgues  embraced  the  offer  with  delight.  It  promised 
him  employment  in  a  familiar  field,  and  against  the  enemy  whom 
he  regarded  with  an  immortal  hate  ;  but  the  Fates  forbade  that 
he  should  longer  listen  to  the  plea  of  revenge.  While  preparing 


462  THE   LILY    AND    THE    TOTEM. 

to  render  himself  to  the  Portuguese  prince,  he  fell  ill  at  Tours, 
where  he  died,  universally  regretted,  and  with  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  most  valiant  and  able  captains  of  the  day — 
equally  capable  as  a  commander  of  an  army  and  a  fleet.  We 
cannot  qualify  our  praise  of  this  remarkable  man  by  giving  heed 
to  the  moral  doubts  which  would  seek  to  impair  the  glory,  not 
only  of  the  most  remarkable  event  of  his  life,  but  of  the  century 
in  which  he  lived.  We  owe  it  to  his  memory  to  write  upon  his 
monument,  that  his  crimes,  if  his  warfare  upon  the  Spaniards 
shall  be  so  considered,  were  committed  in  the  cause  of  humanity ! 
Our  chronicle  is  ended.  The  expedition  of  Dominique  de 
Gourgues  concludes  the  history  of  the  colonies  of  France  in  the 
forests  of  the  Floridian. 


APPENDIX. 


ORIGINALLY,  it  was  the  design  of  the  Author,  to  write  a  reli- 
gious narrative  poem  on  the  subject  of  the  preceding  history.  The 
following  sections,  however,  were  all  that  were  written. 

I. 

THE    VOICE. 

A  midnight  voice  from  Heaven !     It  smote  his  ear, 

That  stern  old  Christian  warrior,  who  had  stood, 

Fearless,  with  front  erect  and  spirit  high, 

Between  his  trembling  flock  and  tyranny, 

Worse  than  Egyptian  !     It  awakened  him 

To  other  thoughts  than  combat.     "  Dost  thou  see ;" — 

Thus  ran  the  utterance  of  that  voice  from  Heaven, — 

"  The  sorrows  of  thy  people  ?     Dost  thou  hear 

Their  groans,  that  mingle  with  the  old  man's  prayer, 

And  the  child's  prattle,  and  the  mother's  hymn  ? 

Vain  help  thy  cannon  brings  them,  and  the  sword, 

Unprofitably  drunk  with  martyr  blood, 

Maintains  the  Christian  argument  no  more. 

Arouse  thee  for  new  labors.     Gird  thy  loins 

For  toils  and  perils  better  overcome 


464  APPENDIX. 

By  patience,  than  the  sword.     Thou  shalt  put  on 
Humility  as  armor  ;  and  set  forth, 
Leading  thy  flock,  whom  the  gaunt  wolf  pursues, 
To  other  lands  and  pastures.     'T  is  no  home 
For  the  pure  heart  in  France  !     There,  Tyranny- 
Hath  wed  with  Superstition  ;  and  •  the  fruit — 
The  foul,  but  natural  issue  of  their  lusts, 
Is  murder  ! — which,  hot-hunting  fresher  feasts, 
Knows  never  satiation ; — raging  still, 
Where'er  a  pure  heart- victim  may  be  found 
In  these  fair  regions.     It  will  lay  them  waste, 
Leaving  no  field  of  peace, — leaving  no  spot 
Where  virtue  may  find  refuge  from  her  foes, 
Permitted  to  forbear  defensive  blows, 
Most  painful,  though  most  needful  to  her  cause  ! 
The  brave  shall  perish,  and  the  fearful  bend, 
Till  unmixed  evil,  rioting  in  waste, 
Wallows  in  crime  and  carnage  unrebuked ! 
Vain  is  thy  wisdom, — and  the  hollow  league, 
That  tempts  thee  to  forbearance,  worse  than  vain. 
Flight  be  thy  refuge  now.     Thou  shalt  shake  off 
The  dust  upon  thy  sandals,  and  go  forth 
To  a  far  foreign  land ; — a  wild,  strange  realm, 
That  were  a  savage  empire,  most  unmeet 
For  Christian  footstep,  and  the  peaceful  mood, 
But  that  it  is  a  refuge  shown  by  Grod 
For  shelter  of  his  people.     Thither,  then, 
Betake  thee  in  thy  flight.     Let  not  thy  cheek 
Flush  at  the  seeming  shame.     It  is  no  shame 
To  fly  from  shameless  foes.     This  truth  is  taught 


APPENDIX.  465 

By  him,  the  venerable  sire  who  led 

His  people  from  the  Egyptians.     Lead  thou  thine  ! 

Forbear  the  soldier's  fury.     I  would  rouse 

The  Prophet  and  the  Patriarch  in  thy  breast, 

And  make  thee  better  seek  the  peaceful  march, 

Than  the  fierce,  deadly  struggle.     Thou  shouldst  guide, 

With  pastoral  hand  of  meekness,  not  of  blood, 

The  tribes  that  still  have  followed  thee,  and  still, 

Demand  thy  care.     Far  o'er  the  western  deeps 

Have  I  prepared  thy  dwelling  !    A  new  world, 

Full  of  all  fruits  and  lovely  to  the  eye, — 

Various  in  mount  and  valley,  sweet  in  stream, 

Cool  in  recesses  of  the  ample  wood, 

With  climate  bland,  air  vigorous,  sky  as  pure 

As  is  the  love  that  proffers  it  to  faith — 

Await  thee  ;  and  the  seas  have  favoring  gales 

To  waft  thee  on  thy  path  !     Delay  and  die  '" 


II. 


"  And,  if  I  perish  !"  the  gray  warrior  said, — 
"  I  perish  still  in  France  !     If  cruel  foes 
Beleaguer  and  ensare  me  to  my  fate, 
The  blow  will  fall  upon  me  in  the  land 
Which  was  my  birth-place.     Better  there  to  die 
The- victim  for  my  people,  than  to  fly 
Inglorious,  from  the  struggle  set  for  us 
By  the  most  cruel  fortunes  !     Not  for  me 
The  hope  of  refuge  in  a  foreign  clime, 
20* 


* 


APPENDIX. 


While  that  which  cradled  me  lies  desolate 

In  blood  and  ashes  !     It  is  better  here 

; 

To  strive  against  the  ruin  and  misrule, 

Than  basely  yield  the  empire  to  the  foe, 

Whose  sway  we  might  withstand  ;  and  whose  abuse, 

Unchecked,  were  but  the  fruitful  argument 

For  thousand  years  of  woe  !     I  would  not  lay 

These  aged  bones  to  sleep  in  distant  lands, 

Though  pure  and  peaceful ;  but  would  close  mine  eye, 

Upon  the  same  sweet  skies — by  tempests  now 

Torn  and  disclouded — upon  which  gladly  first 

They  opened  with  delight  in  infancy; 

This  fondnesss,  it  may  be,  is  but  a  weakness 

Becoming  not  my  manhood.     Be  it  so  ! 

I  know  that  I  am  weak ;  but  there's  a  passion, 

That  glows  with  loyal  anger  in  my  heart, 

And  shows  like  virtue.     It  forbids  my  flight ; 

And,  for  my  country's  glory,  and  the  safety 

Of  our  distracted  and  diminished  flock, 

Declares  how  much  more  grateful  were  the  strife — 

That  proud  defiance  which  I  still  have  given 

To  those  fierce  enemies,  whose  sleepless  hate 

Hath  shamed  and  struck  at  both.     I  deem  it  better 

To  struggle  with  injustice  than  submit ; 

For  still  submission  of  the  innocent 

Makes  evident  the  guilty ;  and  the  good, 

Who  yield,  but  multiply  the  herd  of  foes, 

That  ravin  when  the  retribution  sleeps  ! 

What  hope  were  there  for  sad  humanity, 

If  still,  when  came  the  danger,  fled  the  braye  ? 


APPENDIX.  467 

Fled  only  to  beguile,  in  fierce  pursuit, 

The  wolfish  spoiler,  leaving  refuge  none, 

In  heart  or  homestead  ?     Not  for  me  to  fly — 

Not  though,  I  hear,  Eternal  Sire  !  thy  voice 

Still  speaking  with  deep  utterance  in  my  soul, 

Commending  my  obedience.     All  in  vain, 

I  strive  to  serve  thee  with  submission  meet, 

And  move  to  do    thy  will.     The  earth  grows  up, 

Around  me  ;  and  the  aspects  of  my  home, 

Enclose  me  like  the  mountains  and  the  sea, 

Forbidding  me  to  fly  them.     Natural  ties, 

That  are  as  God's,  upon  the  mortal  heart, 

Fetter  me  still  to  France  !  and  yet  thou  knowest, 

How  reverent  and  unselfish  were  my  toils, 

In  this  our  people's  cause.     I  have  not  spared 

Day  or  night  labor  ;  and  my  blood  hath  flowed, 

Unstinted,  in  the  strife  that  we  have  waged. 

The  sword  hath  hacked  these  limbs — the  poisoned  cup 

Hung  at  these  lips.     The  ignominous  death, 

From  the  uplifted  scaffold,  look'd  upon  me, 

Craving  its  victim  ;  the  assassin's  steel, 

Turned  from  my  ribs,  with  narrowest  graze  avoiding 

The  imperil'd  life  !     Yet  never  have  I  shrunk, 

Because  of  these  flesh-dangers  from  the  work 

Whereto  my  hand  was  set.     Let  me  not  now 

Turn  from  the  field  in  flight,  though  still  to  lead 

The  flock  that  I  must  die  for  !     This  I  know  ! 

I  cannot  always  'scape.     The  blow  will  come  ! 

Not  always  will  the  poisonous  draught  be  spill'd, 

Or  the  sharp  steel  be  foil'd,  or  turn'd  aside ; — 


468  APPENDIX. 

And  to  the  many  martyrs  in  this  cause, 
Already  made,  my  yearning  spirit  feels, 
Its  sworn  alliance.     I  will  die  like  them, 
But  cannot  fly  their  graves  !     I  dare  not  fly, 
Though  death  awaits  me  here,  and,  soft,  afar, 
Sits  safety  in  the  cloud  and  beckons  me." 

%k 

m. 

THE    VOYAGE. 

"  And  leave  thy  flock  to  perish  ?" — Thus  the  voice, 
Reproachful  to  the  patriarch. — "  No,"  he  cried, 
"  They  shall  partake  the  sweet  security, 
Of  the  far  home  of  refuge  thou  assign'st. 
They  shall  go  forth  from  bondage  and  from  death : 
The  path  made  free  to  them,  their  feet  shall  take ; 
My  counsels  shall  direct  them,  and  my  soul 
Still  struggle  in  their  service.     Those  who  fly, 
Best  moved  by  fond  obedience, — with  few  ties 
To  fasten  the  devoted  heart  to  earth, 
And  looking  but  to  heaven ; — and  those  who  still, 
With  that  fond  passion  of  home  which  fetters  me, 
Prefer  to  look  upon  their  graves  in  France, — 
Shall  equally  command  my  care  and  toil, 
Though  not  alike  my  presence.     They  who  go  forth 
To  the  far  land  of  promise  which  awaits  them, 
Mine  eye  shall  watch  across  the  mighty  deep, 
And  still  my  succors  reach  them,  while  the  power 
Is  mine  for  human  providence ;  and  still, 
Even  from  the  fearful  eminence  of  death, 


,-f 


APPENDIX.  469 

My  spirit,  parting  from  its  shrouding  clay, 
Survey  them  with  the  thought  of  one  who  loves, 
Glad  in  the  safety  which  it  could  not  share  !" 


Even  as  he  said, — a  little  band  went  forth 

Still  resolute  for  Grod ; — having  no  home, 

But  that  made  holy  by  his  privilege ; 

Their  prayers  unchecked,  their  pure  rites  undisturbed, 

They  bending  at  high  altars,  with  no  dread, 

Lest  other  eyes  than  the  elect  should  see, 

Their  secret  smokes  arise. 

To  a  wild  shore, 

Most  wild,  but  lovely, — o'er  the  deeps  they  came ; 
Propitious  winds  at  beck,  and  Grod  in  heaven, 
Looking  from  bluest  skies.     From  the  broad  sea, 
Sudden,  the  grey  lines  of  the  wooing  land, 
Stretched  out  its  sheltering  haven,  and  afar, 
Implored  them,  with  its  smiles,  through  gayest  green, 
That  to  the  heart  of  the  lone  voyagers, 
Spoke  of  their  homes  in  France. 

"And  here,"  they  cried, 

"  Cast  anchor !     We  will  build  our  temples  here  ! 
This  solitude  is  still  security, 
And  freedom  shall  compensate  all  the  loss 
Known  first  in  loss  of  home  !     Yet  naught  is  lost, — 
All  rather  gained,  that  human  hearts  have  found 
Most  dear  to  hope  and  its  immunities, 
If  that  we  win  that  freedom  of  the  soul, 
It  never  knew  before  !     Here  should  we  find 
Our  native  land, — the  native  land  of  soul, 


470  APPENDIX. 

Where  conscience  may  take  speech, — where  truth  take  root, 

And  spread  its  living  branches,  till  all  earth 

Grows  lovely  with  their  heritage.     From  the  wild 

Our  pray'rs  shall  rise  to  heaven ;  nor  shall  we  build 

Our  altars  in  the  gloomy  caves  of  earth, 

Dreading  each  moment  lest  the  accusing  smokes, 

That  from  our  reeking  censers  may  arise, 

Shall  show  the  imperial  murderer  where  we  hide." 


**** 


M5OCS27O 


